JOURNAL OF AFRICAN ELECTIONS JOURNAL OF JOURNAL OF AFRICAN ELECTIONS Vol 4 No 1 June 2005 4 No 1 June Vol Volume 4 Number 1 June 2005 VOLUME 3 NO 2 1 Journal of African Elections ARTICLES BY Debie LeBeau Bertha Z Osei-Hwedie and David Sebudubudu Wiseman Chijere Chirwa Gilles Cistac Joseph Topangu Victor Shale L Amédée Darga Denis Kadima and Roukaya Kasenally Claude Kabemba Volume 4 Number 1 June 2005 2 JOURNAL OF AFRICAN ELECTIONS Published by EISA 2nd Floor The Atrium 41 Stanley Avenue Auckland Park Johannesburg South Africa P O Box 740 Auckland Park 2006 South Africa Tel: +27(0)11 482 5495 Fax: +27(0)11 482 6163 e-mail: [email protected] © EISA 2005 ISSN: 1609-4700 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the written permission of the publisher. Copy editor: Pat Tucker Printed by: Global Print, Johannesburg Cover photograph: Reproduced with the permission of the HAMILL GALLERY OF AFRICAN ART, BOSTON, MA, USA www.eisa.org.za VOLUME 3 NO 2 3 EDITORS Denis Kadima, EISA, Johannesburg Khabele Matlosa, EISA, Johannesburg EDITORIAL BOARD Tessa Bakary, Office of the Prime Minister, Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire David Caroll, Democracy Program, The Carter Center, Atlanta Luis de Brito, EISA Country Office, Maputo Jørgen Elklit, Department of Political Science, Aarhus University, Copenhagen Amanda Gouws, Department of Political Science, University of Stellenbosch Abdalla Hamdok, International Institute for Democracy Assistance, Pretoria Sean Jacobs, Department of Political Science, University of Cape Town Claude Kabemba, EISA, Johannesburg Peter Kagwanja, International Crisis Group, Southern Africa Project, Pretoria Peter Katjavivi, University of Namibia, Windhoek Abdul Rahman Lamin, Department of International Relations, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg Tom Lodge, Department of Politics and Public Administration, University of Limerick Robin Ludwig, UN Dialogue with the Global South, New York Robert Mattes, Department of Political Science, University of Cape Town Yvonne Muthien, Corporate Affairs, MTN South Africa Eghosa Osaghae, Igbinedion University, Okada, Nigeria David Pottie, The Carter Center, Atlanta Ben Reilly, Asia Pacific School of Economics & Government, The Australian National University, Canberra Lloyd Sachikonye, Institute of Development Studies, University of Zimbabwe, Harare Jeremy Seekings, Sociology Department, University of Cape Town Timothy Sisk, Graduate School of International Studies, University of Denver, Colorado Gloria Somolekai, Democracy Research Project, University of Botswana, Gaborone Roger Southall, Human Sciences Research Council, Pretoria The Journal of African Elections is an interdisciplinary biannual publication of research and writing in the human sciences, which seeks to promote a scholarly understanding of developments and change in Africa. Responsibility for opinions expressed and for the accuracy of facts published in papers, research notes, review articles and book reviews rests solely with the individual authors or reviewers. Contributions are referred to specialist readers for consideration, but the Editor is responsible for the final selection of the contents of the Journal. Editorial correspondence, including manuscripts for submission and books for review, should be sent to: The Editor, Journal of African Elections Electoral Institute of Southern Africa P O Box 740 Auckland Park 2006 South Africa Business correspondence, including orders and remittances, subscription queries, advertisements, back numbers and offprints, should be addressed to the publisher: 4 JOURNAL OF AFRICAN ELECTIONS CONTENTS Multiparty Democracy and Elections in Namibia Debie LeBeau ..................................................................................................................... 1 Botswana’s 2004 Elections: Free and Fair? Bertha Z Osei-Hwedie and David Sebudubudu.............................................................. 27 Malawi’s 2004 Elections: A Challenge for Democracy Wiseman Chijere Chirwa................................................................................................. 43 Justice and Electoral Disputes In Mozambique Gilles Cistac ..................................................................................................................... 61 Post-Election Prospects for Burundi Joseph Topangu ................................................................................................................ 90 The 2005 Lesotho Local Government Elections: Implications for Development and Governance Victor Shale ................................................................................................................... 100 The Electoral Reform Process in Mauritius L Amédée Darga ............................................................................................................ 117 The Formation, Collapse and Revival of Political Party Coalitions in Mauritius: Ethnic Logic and Calculation at Play Denis K Kadima and Roukaya Kasenally ...................................................................... 133 Transitional Politics in the DRC: The Role of the Key Stakeholders Claude Kabemba ............................................................................................................ 165 Review State of the Nation South Africa 2004-2005 .................................................................181 Contents of Previous Issues ...................................................................................... 184 Notes for Contributors ............................................................................................... 190 VOLUME 4 NO 1 1 MULTIPARTY DEMOCRACY AND ELECTIONS IN NAMIBIA * By Debie LeBeau ** Dr Debie LeBeau is Senior Research Associate, University of Namibia PO Box 25193 Windhoek, Namibia 9000 Tel: +26461 248 483 email: [email protected] ABSTRACT This paper examines the most recent round of elections in Namibia – those held in 2004. For those elections the Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) succeeded in re- registering almost one million voters, conducting by-elections, administering local, regional, national and presidential elections, as well as providing voter education at national and grassroots community levels. Of course the ECN did not complete these endeavours alone: the democratic process in Namibia is a cooperative (and sometimes competitive) effort between government, donors, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), civil society and political parties. In 2004 11 political parties were registered with the ECN – a high number for a country with only 977 742 registered voters. The major issues in the 2004 election were economic growth, poverty, unemployment, land reform, agriculture, infrastructure, the eradication of corruption, education, health care, social welfare, gender equality, good governance, moral values and HIV/AIDS. With all parties focusing on the same issues and in the absence of viable policy alternatives, ethnicity, liberation struggle credentials and individual personalities within and between parties play a role in voting decisions. * Acknowledgements: Meme Fransina Ndateelela Kahungu helped collect data from various NGOs, donors and governmental organisations. Edith Dima drafted sections of the original publication upon which this article is based. The author would like to extend a special thanks to Christiaan Keulder of the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) who provided us with transcripts from interviews and data on the elections. However, most importantly, Christie devoted much time and attention to critically reviewing this paper, and to many discussions about theories and concepts relating to the consolidation of democracy – how extraordinary to find someone with such depth of knowledge who is so readily willing to share. ** An American by birth, Dr LeBeau has been living and working in Namibia for the past 15 years. She obtained her PhD from Rhodes University, South Africa. She is currently a senior researcher in the Gender Training and Research Programme at the University of Namibia and taught for eight years in the Department of Sociology. She has authored many books and chapters in books on Namibian issues. Her most recent co-authored book, with Eunice Iipinge, is the SADC publication Beyond Inequalities: Women in Namibia. Much of her work has focused on gender issues and HIV/AIDS-related topics. 1 2 JOURNAL OF AFRICAN ELECTIONS INTRODUCTION In line with international trends, the most recent figures on voter turnout show that turnout for local authority (45%) and regional council elections (53,5%) in Namibia were lower than that for the National Assembly and presidential elections (85%). This apathy is disconcerting given that most people in Namibia have only had the vote for 15 years. In any given society conflict surrounds power and political decision-making. Democracy, by its very nature, entails a certain level of development built through conflict. There are still some contested domains within the area of the electoral system itself, including those relating to the use of party lists and the Proportional Representation (PR) system. The 50/50 campaign which advocated ‘zebra’-style lists, alternating women and men candidates for all elections so that half of the candidates put forward are women, was rejected on a technicality by a parliamentary standing committee. Two significant