By: Andrew Kathindi
The Electoral Commission of Namibia says it will punish political parties that do not provide financial statements regarding their political party funding.
Only two political parties provided financial statements to ECN in the last 2019/2020 financial year.
According to the electoral Act, political parties must state the sources of their funds and other assets annually.
“Our perceived leniency in fully enforcing these measures has to come to an end as this Commission cannot allow this trend to continue,” newly appointed ECN chairperson Elsie Nghikembua said.
“The issue of political party funding has recently also become a topical issue and the fact that some political parties are not complying is defeating the purpose and undermining national efforts of anti-corruption as highlighted in the Final Draft National Anti-Corruption Strategy and Action Plan which placed as its first Strategic Objective “increasing the level of political accountability and transparency”.
The Act further states that every registered political party must maintain at its head office an accurate and permanently maintained record consisting of any contribution, donation or pledge of contributions or gifts, whether in cash or kind made to the party.
According to ECN spokesperson Lina Ndengu, only All People’s Party (APP) and Popular Democratic Movement (PDM) provided financial statements in the financial year of 2019/2020, while only five, PDM, APP, National Unity Democratic Organisation (NUDO), South West Africa National Union (SWANU) and South West Africa People’s Organization (SWAPO), submitted theirs for the 2018/2019 financial year.
There are currently 19 political parties registered with the ECN, while 10 are represented in the national assembly.
“It’s one of the things we are having issues with where political parties are not complying. This is a grave concern for the ECN, and we are already looking at measures to put in place to ensure that compliance takes place. It’s something the ECN has to look at, maybe punitive measures due to non-compliance in the future,” Ndengu told The Villager.
She said there are currently no measures in place to enforce compliance.
“These are some of the issues we’ll look at in the new five-year strategic plan.”
She said ECN are planning to have the measures in place before the new financial year starts.
PDM’s secretary-general Manuel Ngaringombe said the issue of non-compliance was not fair on parties that do follow the rules.
“It’s a genuine concern. When parties don’t comply, it’s a problem. That’s why you get these fishrot issues. Meaning there’s a loophole in the system.”
He said the party has not yet submitted its 2020/2021 financial report, but the ECN has provided some leeway.
“We always have updated unqualified financial reports. When it comes to being accountable for donations, PDM is always on board. But when it comes to declaring assets, we were lagging, but after some explanations, now we also want to start working on that.”
SWAPO executive director Austin Samupwa said his party follows the regulations and that “the law must just be followed.”
The issue of non-compliance on financial transparency was also flagged by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) recent 2021 Democracy report.
“Parties are not adhering to rules on transparency and accountability, and regulatory and oversight entities are not doing their part to enforce compliance.”
Political parties received N$103.9 million from state coffers for the 2021/2022 financial year.
