Khomasdal Constituency (until 2013: Khomasdal North Constituency)[1] is a constituency in Windhoek in the Khomas Region of Namibia. As of December 2019[update] it had 25,550 registered voters.[2] The constituency consists of parts of the suburbs Khomasdal, Katutura, and Otjomuise.[3] It had a population of 43,921 in 2011, up from 27,950 in 2001.[4]
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Politics
editKhomasdal is traditionally a stronghold of the South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO) party. The first councillor of this constituency was SWAPO's Karel Persendt. In 1998, Margaret Mensah-Williams, also on a SWAPO ticket, took over from him. She was subsequently selected to represent Khomas Region in the National Council, and in 1999 she became its vice-chairperson (deputy speaker), the first woman to be elected to a major decision-making position in Namibia.[3] Mensah-Williams was re-elected in 2004[5] and 2010. She also won the 2015 regional elections with 4,121 votes. Sylvester Kazapua of the Democratic Turnhalle Alliance (DTA) came second with 723 votes. Uzikama Kandjii of the National Unity Democratic Organisation (NUDO, 384 votes) and Bartholomeus Kauahuma of the South West Africa National Union (SWANU, 170 votes) also contested this election.[6]
After councillor Mensah-Williams was fielded as a parliamentary candidate in the 2019 Namibian general election, a by-election became necessary for Khomasdal because Namibian electoral law prohibits sitting councillors and members of the public service to run for a seat in parliament.[7] The by-election was conducted on 15 January 2020. Samuel Angolo (SWAPO) won with 1,227 votes, followed by Mara Baumgartner (Landless People's Movement (LPM), 349 votes), Raymond Diergaardt (Popular Democratic Movement (PDM), 326 votes) and Bartholomeus Kauahuma (SWANU, 202 votes).[2] Councillor Angolo of SWAPO was re-elected in the 2020 regional election receiving 2,337 votes. Frans Wilbard of the Independent Patriots for Change (IPC), an opposition party formed in August 2020, came second with 1,503 votes. This election was also contested by the LPM (candidate Christiaan Tseitseimou, 1,285 votes), the PDM (Nadine Pienaar, 881 votes), and the NUDO (Sylvester Kazapua, 679 votes).[8]
References
edit- ^ "Creation of new regions and division and re-division of certain regions into constituencies: Regional Councils Act, 1992" (pdf). Government Gazette of the Republic of Namibia. No. 5261. Government of Namibia. 9 August 2013. p. 31. Archived from the original on 27 April 2021. Retrieved 12 September 2023.
- ^ a b "Results for Regional Council By Elections for the Gobabis, Keetmanshoop Urban, Khomasdal and Walvis Bay Urban Constituencies" (PDF). Electoral Commission of Namibia. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 February 2020. Retrieved 21 January 2020.
- ^ a b Matundu-Tjiparuro, Mae (28 February 2011). "Khomas Region, a constitutional, political and geographical hybrid". Focus on: Khomas Region. supplement to New Era. p. 3.
- ^ "Khomas 2011 Census Regional Profile" (PDF). Statistics Namibia. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 May 2022. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
- ^ "Electoral Act, 1992: Notification of Result of General Election for Regional Councils" (pdf). Government Gazette of the Republic of Namibia. No. 3366. Government of Namibia. 3 January 2005. p. 14.
- ^ "Regional Council Election Results 2015". Electoral Commission of Namibia. 3 December 2015. p. 9. Archived from the original on 8 December 2015.
- ^ "By-elections set for January". The Namibian. 18 October 2019.
- ^ "Regional Council 2020 Election Results". Interactive map. Electoral Commission of Namibia. 18 January 2021. Archived from the original on 12 June 2021. Retrieved 2 June 2021.