Page 14 - 6-Windhoek AFTERNOON SESSION e-BOOK (26 April 2023)

Namibia Business School (NBS)
FACULTY OF COMMERCE,
MANAGEMENT AND LAW
DOCTOR OF
BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

CANDIDATE: NGHIKEMBUA Elsie T

CANDIDATE’S DISSERTATION
ENHANCING THE INSTITUTIONAL GOVERNANCE
FRAMEWORK OF THE ELECTORAL COMMISSION
OF NAMIBIA.
The doctoral study was undertaken and completed under the
supervision of Dr Elisha Woyo of the Manchester Metropolitan University
(United Kingdom) as the Main Supervisor and Prof Charles Makanyeza
of the University of Namibia as the Co-Supervisor.
The candidate investigated the legislative frameworks put in place
for Election Management Bodies and how these affects their
operational independence. The study was framed and inspired
by the frequent contestations of elections in Africa that made the
management of elections topical. Based on this, the main objective
of the study was to develop an institutional framework for electoral
governance of the Electoral Commission of Namibia. This study
advances our understanding on how to improve the management
and administration of elections in developing countries. Data were
collected. Using a thematic analysis approach, and several data
presentation methods such as thematic frequency tables, word
frequency, word cloud and word tree techniques, the findings showed
that the Electoral Commission of Namibia was perceived as not
operationally independent. This was attributed to the conflation that
comes into play through the Public Service Act that considers ECN to
be seen as an agency of the government, and thus perceived as not
operationally independent.

Theoretically, this study contributes toward the electoral governance
and election management literature by unpacking the elements
that makes election management bodies to viewed as less
operationally independent. Furthermore, the study developed a
framework for enhancing the electoral governance of electoral
management bodies which election managers can use to make
electoral management bodies to be institutionally, financially and
administratively independently from government.

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