LPM says 2025 local elections ‘not free, not fair’
Losing candidate says reputation was deliberately ‘tainted’
The Landless People’s Movement (LPM) has rejected the 2025 local and regional authority election results outright, declaring Namibia to be at a “pending political crossroads”.
The party also accused the Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) of presiding over a “flawed, negligent and unaccountable” process.
In a strongly worded statement issued this week, LPM national spokesperson Lifalaza Simataa said the party “cannot agree that an election held by the current ECN can be seen as free, fair or credible”, arguing that the circumstances surrounding the vote and its aftermath have eroded public trust to crisis levels.
Simataa said the party’s assessment of the polls can be summarised in three terms: substantiation, inaccurate perception and political crossroads.
He argued that the 2025 process confirmed long-standing complaints that LPM has lodged against the ECN, particularly regarding counting delays, administrative blunders and a general lack of accountability.
Despite what he described as a historically low voter turnout, Simataa questioned why the commission still took several days to tally results while also being “burdened with errors” that saw announcements retracted and council seat allocations delayed. He listed allegations of counting agents being removed from venues, sudden venue changes, duplicated ballot papers, ballots without serial numbers, and candidates missing from certain ballots.
“These issues form a long list strung from the disaster that was the last election,” Simataa charged. “Namibia will continue to have a flawed and error-filled election process that inspires low voter turnout under the current modus operandi of the ECN.”
He added that, at best, the commission is “very negligent”, and at worst, he claimed it has been “captured by the liberation party”, accusing it of showing little interest in hiding such collaboration.
Turning point
Turning to the outcome, LPM disputed the widespread narrative that the ruling Swapo Party emerged as the major victor. Simataa argued that neither Swapo nor the opposition made any meaningful gains, insisting that the results reflect apathy and distrust, not shifts in political support.
“Opposition-led localities inherited broken systems from previous Swapo-led councils and then faced a hostile national government that intentionally closed avenues for local authorities,” he said.
“Swapo strongholds have not made major additions, changes or developments. There was no influx of ideas, no change in work, no clear expression of how they will develop local authorities.”
Because of this, he argued, neither the ruling party nor the opposition can be said to have won or lost support. Instead, the deeper issue is that “the system deployed [by the ECN] is not trusted, and this has impacted voter apathy.”
He said the contradiction between the 2024 national election, which showed incremental gains for opposition parties, and the 2025 local results “raises major questions”, especially given that no significant policy or service delivery changes occurred in the interim. With critical sectors such as health, education and infrastructure still “in shambles”, he said the declared shift in political support is implausible.
“In the year with the lowest historical voter turnout, there is no reflection of the Namibian citizens’ opinion in the results presented,” he said. “There is no trust in the institution that presents those results, and those now declared victorious have never presented results to the people.”
LPM argues that Namibia has reached a political turning point that requires “restructuring, accountability and a major shift” in how elections are administered and how democracy is protected.
Inauthentic
Windhoek community activist and former candidate Shaun Gariseb reinforced LPM’s criticism, arguing that Namibia’s electoral landscape is shaped, not chosen.
“Namibia’s democracy is not authentic, it’s engineered, and unfortunately, every five years the same thing is done,” he said. “The general public is conditioned to applaud small victories for the opposition as if they signify genuine democracy.”
Gariseb, who received over a thousand votes, said he was grateful for the support but insisted the outcome “was not a true reflection of the constituency”.
He alleged that there was a "political plan. Voters are paid and manipulated, and then there’s the manipulation of numbers. The votes of those ahead of me were not a reflection of what happened on the day.”
Gariseb also said his candidacy was damaged by what he called an “arbitrary arrest” by City Police, which he believes tainted public confidence.
“I was and am the most popular candidate in the entire country for my good work, which won’t stop,” he said. “But they tainted it, or else I’d have defeated that political plan by an overwhelming vote.”
He further accused the ECN of sabotaging civic participation through poor registration processes, saying many Khomas residents were left disappointed when the Khomas Residents and Ratepayers Association could not participate.
“People are registered in ways that confuse. Some have N/A voter cards, some register in constituencies they don’t live in. Verification is shady, taking three days to verify fewer votes than a national election.”
The party also accused the Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) of presiding over a “flawed, negligent and unaccountable” process.
In a strongly worded statement issued this week, LPM national spokesperson Lifalaza Simataa said the party “cannot agree that an election held by the current ECN can be seen as free, fair or credible”, arguing that the circumstances surrounding the vote and its aftermath have eroded public trust to crisis levels.
Simataa said the party’s assessment of the polls can be summarised in three terms: substantiation, inaccurate perception and political crossroads.
He argued that the 2025 process confirmed long-standing complaints that LPM has lodged against the ECN, particularly regarding counting delays, administrative blunders and a general lack of accountability.
Despite what he described as a historically low voter turnout, Simataa questioned why the commission still took several days to tally results while also being “burdened with errors” that saw announcements retracted and council seat allocations delayed. He listed allegations of counting agents being removed from venues, sudden venue changes, duplicated ballot papers, ballots without serial numbers, and candidates missing from certain ballots.
“These issues form a long list strung from the disaster that was the last election,” Simataa charged. “Namibia will continue to have a flawed and error-filled election process that inspires low voter turnout under the current modus operandi of the ECN.”
He added that, at best, the commission is “very negligent”, and at worst, he claimed it has been “captured by the liberation party”, accusing it of showing little interest in hiding such collaboration.
Turning point
Turning to the outcome, LPM disputed the widespread narrative that the ruling Swapo Party emerged as the major victor. Simataa argued that neither Swapo nor the opposition made any meaningful gains, insisting that the results reflect apathy and distrust, not shifts in political support.
“Opposition-led localities inherited broken systems from previous Swapo-led councils and then faced a hostile national government that intentionally closed avenues for local authorities,” he said.
“Swapo strongholds have not made major additions, changes or developments. There was no influx of ideas, no change in work, no clear expression of how they will develop local authorities.”
Because of this, he argued, neither the ruling party nor the opposition can be said to have won or lost support. Instead, the deeper issue is that “the system deployed [by the ECN] is not trusted, and this has impacted voter apathy.”
He said the contradiction between the 2024 national election, which showed incremental gains for opposition parties, and the 2025 local results “raises major questions”, especially given that no significant policy or service delivery changes occurred in the interim. With critical sectors such as health, education and infrastructure still “in shambles”, he said the declared shift in political support is implausible.
“In the year with the lowest historical voter turnout, there is no reflection of the Namibian citizens’ opinion in the results presented,” he said. “There is no trust in the institution that presents those results, and those now declared victorious have never presented results to the people.”
LPM argues that Namibia has reached a political turning point that requires “restructuring, accountability and a major shift” in how elections are administered and how democracy is protected.
Inauthentic
Windhoek community activist and former candidate Shaun Gariseb reinforced LPM’s criticism, arguing that Namibia’s electoral landscape is shaped, not chosen.
“Namibia’s democracy is not authentic, it’s engineered, and unfortunately, every five years the same thing is done,” he said. “The general public is conditioned to applaud small victories for the opposition as if they signify genuine democracy.”
Gariseb, who received over a thousand votes, said he was grateful for the support but insisted the outcome “was not a true reflection of the constituency”.
He alleged that there was a "political plan. Voters are paid and manipulated, and then there’s the manipulation of numbers. The votes of those ahead of me were not a reflection of what happened on the day.”
Gariseb also said his candidacy was damaged by what he called an “arbitrary arrest” by City Police, which he believes tainted public confidence.
“I was and am the most popular candidate in the entire country for my good work, which won’t stop,” he said. “But they tainted it, or else I’d have defeated that political plan by an overwhelming vote.”
He further accused the ECN of sabotaging civic participation through poor registration processes, saying many Khomas residents were left disappointed when the Khomas Residents and Ratepayers Association could not participate.
“People are registered in ways that confuse. Some have N/A voter cards, some register in constituencies they don’t live in. Verification is shady, taking three days to verify fewer votes than a national election.”
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