Namibia: Election results delayed

 Results for Namibia's national and presidential elections experienced delays as most polling stations only closed in the early hours of Saturday, to allow queuing voters to cast their vote.

By noon on Saturday, the Electoral Commission of Namibia had released results of one of the 121 constituencies in Namibia.

The ruling party, South West Africa People's Organisation (Swapo) received the highest number of votes with 66.8%, but it was 8.45% less than the 2009 elections.

The main opposition party, Rally for Democracy and Progress (RDP), received 8.13%, about 3.18% less than five years ago.

In third place in the Gibeon constituency of the southern Hardap Region was the DTA Party (Democratic Turnhalle Alliance), with 7.73%, up by three percent from 4.56% in 2009.

The electoral act in Namibia stipulates that counted results of polling stations must be posted at each polling station.

They must be collated and verified at constituency and regional level before being sent to the election centre in Windhoek to be officially released.

The results for the presidential elections at three polling stations, seen by Sapa at two different polling stations in Windhoek, show that Swapo presidential candidate Hage Geingob received most votes.

In Namibia, the president is elected directly by the voters.

At the polling station of the Polytechnic of Namibia, a tertiary institution, results showed Geingob garnering 977 votes of about 1100 votes, followed by RDP president Hidipo Hamutenya with 249 votes.

Close on the heels is the DTA's youthful president McHenry Venaani, 37, who received 242 votes.

At the Augustineum government school in Khomasdal, in Windhoek, results posted outside the polling station showed that Geingob received 660 of about 900 votes, Venaani 67 votes and Hamutenya 56 votes.

Meanwhile, the leader of another opposition party, Ben Ulenga of the Congress of Democrats (CoD) blamed the electoral commission for delays at polls experienced on Friday was due to faulty voter verification scanners.

Ulenga called on the director of elections to step down.

"The elections have been a sham and a complete fiasco," Ulenga said.

"CoD calls for the immediate resignation of Paul Isaak as director of elections and the calling off of the current sham process. Truly credible, fair and worthy elections on the nearest possible date should be held," the CoD party said in a statement.

South Africa's International Relations and Cooperation Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane said the election process was very peaceful.

Nkoana-Mashabane arrived in Windhoek on Friday afternoon.

"Elections were very peaceful and other observations of the SADC Election Observer Mission (SEOM) will be made public on Sunday," she told the public broadcaster, Namibia Broadcasting Corporation.

- SAPA