Maria David
THE Electoral Commission of Namibia has dismissed claims made by the Landless People Movement (LPM) regarding inconsistencies in the new election integrated system.
In a statement issued by ECN, they expressed their strong rejection and condemnation of the allegations made by the Landless People’s Movement (LPM) Authorized Representative, deeming them devoid of truth and misleading.
The Commission is in an advanced stage of finalizing and introducing the enhanced Integrated Mobile Voter Registration System (IMVRS), intended for deployment in electoral processes, including voter registration and the polling process.
During the last engagement held last month, with political parties, organizations, associations, and all stakeholders in attendance, including LPM, an update on the progress made with the Integrated Mobile Voters Registration System was provided. Stakeholders were also informed that a “Mock Voter Registration” would be conducted to test the functionality of the enhanced system before the actual roll-out and launch of the IMVRS.
“During that meeting, political parties and organizations/associations were requested to participate in the Mock Voter Registration process as key stakeholders in this process,” read the statement.
Furthermore, ECN indicated that this is a prerequisite for the ECN to prepare the equipment for this exercise and ensure that only the number of devices to be deployed will be prepared as per the deployment plan.
In terms of procurement guidelines, it is standard practice that any acquired equipment must be tested to establish its general functionality before actual deployment. ECN, as the service provider, has been on-site since Monday, November 6, 2023, for this purpose, which only involves verifying the completeness of the items delivered.
Moreover, ECN indicated that there is no substance in the allegations that ECN IT officials or, for that matter, ECN does not have any control over the work to be carried out for this purpose.
The Mock Registration, as communicated to political parties, organizations, and associations at the established PLC platforms, is proceeding as planned, and a communication to this effect will be shared in due course, as indicated during the last PLC engagement.
The ECN calls on all stakeholders, particularly political parties, and in this specific context, LPM, to refrain from disseminating unverified information.
“Leaders who have the interest of our country at heart must act responsibly and with integrity and refrain from issuing irresponsible and unreliable information because this is not the way to gain popularity or get the attention of the media,” concluded the report.
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