Harare, (New Ziana) – The Southern African Development Community (SADC) on Thursday dispatched its election observer mission to Namibia, led by Honourable Anne Semamba Makina, former Tanzanian parliamentary speaker.
Namibia is scheduled to hold presidential and parliamentary later this month.
In a statement, SADC said the deployment is in accordance with Article 3 of the revised SADC Principles and Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections (2021) which demands that the regional bloc shall observe all general elections held in its member States.
“As per the standard practice of observing General Elections in the SADC Member States, the Government of the Republic of Namibia invited the SADC Electoral Observation Mission (SEOM) to observe the country’s upcoming Presidential and National Assembly Elections scheduled for the 27th of November 2024,” SADC said.
The Secretariat Support Team, said the statement, was deployed to Namibia on Monday to set up the SEOM headquarters and prepare logistics for the deployment of observers to all the 14 regions of the country.
Upon arrival in Namibia on Thursday, the SEOM team was scheduled to undergo a refresher pre-deployment training scheduled for 15 to 18 November.
“The Chairperson of the SADC Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation, Her Excellency Dr Samia Suluhu Hassan, President of the Republic of Tanzania, constituted SEOM deployment to the Presidential and National Assembly Elections in Namibia and appointed Honourable Anne Semamba Makinda, former speaker of the Parliament of the United Republic of Tanzania, as the head of mission,” said the statement.
President Suluhu Hassan also tasked the SADC secretariat, led by SADC Executive Secretary Elias Magosi, to coordinate the deployment of SEOM, including the facilitation of in country deployment of election observers.
The SEOM will observe the country’s pre-election phase, polling day and post-election processes with the objective of assessing the conduct of the elections in accordance with the Principles and Guidelines of the regional body, which promote the holding of regular free, fair, transparent, credible and peaceful democratic elections.
Among the key activities, the statement said, the SEOM will undertake consultations with a broad range of electoral stakeholders to gain a deeper understanding about whether the political and security environments in the country are conducive for the holding of free, fair, transparent, credible and peaceful elections in conformity with the revised SADC principles and guidelines.
New Ziana
