The humble mobile phone is driving a new revolution which some experts hope could bring fairer elections and democracy to some African states. Many African countries have struggled against rigged elections and authoritarian rule since gaining independence last century. However, African observers say the growth of simple communication technologies like cell phones are assisting many states to progress towards open and fair elections in increasingly democratic systems.

This contains the changes to the Electoral Act that were rushed through parliament in July

With six months still to go before Namibia’s National Assembly and Presidential elections, political parties have started to issue their manifestos. The Rally for Democracy and Progress (RDP) and Swanu have already launched their manifestos. The Namibia Democratic Movement for Change (NDMC) has previewed the contents of its manifesto while promising to launch it at a public rally soon. Meanwhile, Swapo has launched a review of its 2004 manifesto analysing its achievements in the past five years.

Election manifestos do not sway voters. This was the overriding conclusion of a debate hosted by the University of the Witwatersrand in March ahead of the South African elections. Participants in the debate agreed that manifestos constituted "sound and fury signifying nothing".
Political journalist Justice Malala argued that party manifestos do not form the basis of a voter's decision. Rather, he claimed, it is the actions and media image of a candidate that count. Malala said that in the digital age, choices were made "on the basis of the sound bite" rather than extensive policy documents.

Political parties have started issuing their manifestos some six months before the next National Assembly and Presidential elections. One of the first out of the blocks is the South West Africa National Union (Swanu). Historically, Swanu has sought to establish a socialist state in Namibia. As such it has been one of the few options for voters on the left of the political spectrum.

According to the Electoral Act of 1992, the general registration of voters is supposed to take place every ten years. The last general registration of voters took place in 2003 and the next one is, therefore, not due until 2013. This means that if your name was on the voters register for the 2004 elections, you do not need to register again for this election as long as you still live in the same constituency as when you previously registered, still have your voter registration card, and still have the same name.
During 2009, the following people should register to vote:

The Electoral Act, which was originally passed in 1992, will be amended this year ahead of the National Assembly and Presidential Elections scheduled for November 2009. A draft Electoral Amendment Bill has been circulated for comment. You can find the draft Bill and an explanatory memorandum in the 'Key Documents' section of this website. Here are ten things you should look out for concerning the upcoming debate about the bill.

1. Code of Conduct

Very little is known about the funding of Namibia’s political parties. The existing Electoral Act only has one section that deals with party funding (Article 46), which says that foreign funding should not be received unless it is publicly disclosed. Unfortunately, the Act does not specify how this should be done. As a result, even though the Act sets out penalties for not disclosing foreign funding, it is effectively unenforceable.