IMAGE: Afrobarometer
The latest data release paints a highly interesting picture of Namibians’ perceptions of democracy and election governance
Updated on 14 August 2024 to include the ‘What is Afrobarometer?’ information.
On the whole Namibians like democracy, but don’t have much trust in the institutions of state meant to embody and promote democracy, according to the Afrobarometer Round 10 summary of results released on 13 August 2024.
According to Afrobarometer, here’s what Namibians believe:
80% – Percentage of Namibians who do not like the idea of a one-party state.
73% – Namibians who don’t like the idea of elections and parliament being abolished.
60% – Namibians who prefer democracy over any other kind of government.
55% – Namibians satisfied with the way democracy works in Namibia.
74% – Namibians saying leaders should be chosen through regular, open, and honest elections.
73% – Namibians believing that many political parties are needed for real choice in who governs.
57% – Namibians believe that if elections are free and fair, it doesn’t matter if one party always wins and governs.
71% – Namibians believe that once elections are over opposition politicians should cooperate with the government to develop the country.
66% – Namibians believing that the 2019 elections were free and fair or mostly free and fair.
71% – Namibians believing political intimidation or violence was not an issue in 2019.
67% – Namibians believing that the ballot is secret in Namibia.
51% – Namibians saying that if the election was held tomorrow they would vote for the Swapo Party.
50% – Namibians who have little or no trust in the Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN).
51% – Namibians saying they have little or no trust in the ruling Swapo Party.
61% – Namibians saying they have little or no trust in opposition political parties.
Against this backdrop, there is one sentiment that undermines the general pro-democracy leaning – there appears to be quite high favourability for a military takeover and military rule under certain conditions among a slight majority of Namibians, specifically:
53% – Namibians believing that it is legitimate for the armed forces to take control of government when elected leaders abuse power for their own ends.
What is Afrobarometer?
According to the Round 10 report:
“Afrobarometer, a nonprofit corporation with headquarters in Ghana, is a pan-African, nonpartisan survey research network that provides reliable data on Africans’ experiences and evaluations of democracy, Governance, and quality of life. Nine rounds of surveys have been completed in up to 42 countries since 1999. Round 10 surveys began in January 2024. Afrobarometer’s national partners conduct face-to-face interviews in the language of the respondent’s choice with nationally representative samples.”
For information on the sample size and how, where, when the survey was conducted, see the ‘Technical information form‘ section in the Round 10 report.