Support decreases for all in Katima Mulilo Urban

Kenya Kambowe RUNDUAll political formations that contested in last week’s Katima Mulilo Urban constituency by-election recorded proportionally fewer votes compared to November 2020.This excludes the National Democratic Party (NDP) as they did not take part last year.Swapo candidate Kennedy Simasiku scooped 1 557 of the 3 002 votes casted on Wednesday and was elected councillor for the constituency. He scored 274 fewer votes than his predecessor, the late John Muchila Mukaya, who died in a car accident in May.This translates to Swapo’s support decreasing from 54.12% to 52%As for the Popular Democratic Movement (PDM), they lost almost half of the support they acquired in the November 2020 elections as their candidate Marklee Mweti Matengu scooped only 294 votes on Wednesday, compared to the 557 he received last year.This means PDM’s support dropped from 16.46% to 10%.Meanwhile, the Independent Patriots for Change (IPC) candidate, Malipa Lynnette, scored 296 votes, 11 less than her counterpart, Simwanza Joseph Swaniso, scooped in November 2020.However, based on the fact that the turnout only accounted for 21% of the constituency’s 14 241 eligible voters, in terms of support, IPC is the only political party that increased its support from 9.07% to 10%.ConcerningLast year, the three independent candidates collectively represented 20.34% of the total valid votes casted, but on Wednesday, two independent candidates only managed to garner 19.12% of the votes.NDP was the only political formation that did not take part in last year’s election but managed to record 282 of the votes.In 2020, the party’s president Lukato Lukato told Namibian Sun that their focus was to partake in the local authority election as a way of using their resources productively.The Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) last week expressed concern over the poor turnout at the polls.This year, 21% of eligible voters casted their ballots, a decrease from last year’s 24.98%.‘Nothing changes’At the weekend, Namibian Sun spoke to some Katima Mulilo residents on the poor turnout.One resident said voting is a waste of time to him.“Getting a voter’s card is easy and I will always get one because that is the only thing we can get in Katima, but when it comes to services, we are getting nothing. Consider it a protest from the community. It does not matter whom you vote into power, nothing changes,” the resident, who spoke on condition of anonymity, remarked.kenya@namibiansun.com

Support decreases for all in Katima Mulilo Urban

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Namibian Sun 2025-09-17

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Support decreases for all in Katima Mulilo Urban

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Namibian Sun 2025-09-17

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