Martha Matongo's blog goes by her name, Marth Matongo. She notes that members of the main opposition, RDP, want Namibia to learn some lessons from Zimbabwe:

Most of the SWAPO members who stays in Ovambo Location and Oshandumbala of Katutura (Windhoek) expect that RDP loose and not get even a seat in Parliament. Approached by Mrs Emilia Tuhadeleni the heard person of Oshandumbala convienced me to get a ticket of SWAPO and encouraged me to go to her house to fill inn the forms.

Being not in the mood, i said i would come any time. Rally for Democracy supporters who are mostly not Oshiwambo speaking expect that their party gets some seats and they will totally support it as they want what happened to Mr Mugabe of Zimbabwe come to their country also.

“We have been in SWAPO for such a long time but but no change come to our region” they say.

Mulolani discusses the controversy surrounding the tender to print ballot papers. The tender was awarded to Namprint, a company owned by the ruling party, Swapo:

The withdrawal of the NamPrint tender by the Electoral Commission of Nambia(ECN) is a welcome move.
Th fact that the tender has been withdrawn after pressure from various political parties that are contesting the elections is a sure sign that the credibility of elections was going to be questioned.
The other important aspect to consider is that the political parties did well in threatening to boycott the elections because obviously they were expressing their democratic right and it was definitely an irregularity to award Namprint the tender given that its a SWAPO owned company.The award was simply going to jeopardise the whole electoral process which ws not going to be a good thing for the country's democracy,even Namibia is still a growing democracy.

Ndahafa reports that two opposition parties, DTA and MAG, plan to take legal actions against the Electoral Commission in Namibia because the tender that was given to Namprint:

The opposition DTA and MAG will take lagal actions against the Electoral commision in Namibia because of the tender that was awarded to the SWAPO party company “NAMPRINT” to print ballot papers for the upcoming elections in November. The two oppositions has refused to accept the awarding of the tender and want it to be awarded to a company that is not linked to the ruling party. They have given the commission until 17h00 yesterday to rescind the decision. The opposition will meet today to consult a way forward if they do not receive any reaction by 17h00.

Pedro discusses the political environment in Namibia:

The Republic of Namibia is known as one of the most peaceful and democratic countries in Africa but the recent happenings has proven how dangerous politics can be when diagnosed with election fever.

Election is the key element or ingredient of a democratic country, therefore, as a Journalism student, living and studying in Namibia for almost three years, I could not let the general elections passby without expressing my humble opinion in the matter as an international observer.

Just like in many African countries, the pre-election stage was marked by a lack of effectiveness from the Electoral Commission when it comes to the delivery of voters registration materials. Unfortunate or fortunately there is always someone to be blamed for mistakes, and this time the Electoral Commision allegedly blamed the Government for not making the vehicles available on time.

There is also a critical element that became a culture, especially in SADC region, where the ruling political parties always have more broadcasting airtime and coverage compared to other parties, and Namibia is no exception.

Consequently, the other political parties criticised the Namibian Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) for unfair election campaign coverage towards the other political parties

Vikitoria writes about hate speech in political campaigns in the country:

As the country leads up to its National and Presidential elections in November this year, political parties campaigning to get ‘the vote' have left nothing unearthed, blame and derogatory comments about each other has become the order of the day.

At a recent Swapo Party rally in the Omungwelume constituency in Northern Namibia, Secretary General of Swapo, Pendukeni Iivula-Ithana in what can only be regarded as promoting xenophobic behaviour amongst the Namibian population, referred to the Editor of the Namibian daily newspaper, Gwen Lister as a ‘big snake in Namibia.'

Iivula -Itana further warned lister that if she is not careful about what she writes about when it comes to Swapo leaders and other Namibians, she will be taken to task for the wrong doings committed by her white ancestors.

Some politica parties are conducting campaigns at the University of Namibia contrary to university regulations, writes Etuna:

Some political parties in Namibia conducted campaign at the University of Namibia (UNAM)'s hostels. The UNAM's SRC president Job Amupada told local media on Tuesday that the Rally for Democratic Party (RDP) members are campaigning door to door at the insititution on Monday.
Amupada said this is prohibited at the institution and it disturbed students as they are preparing for November examinations.
“Political parties are not allowed to conduct campaigns or rallies in the institutions,” he said.

One blogger reports that the Electoran Commission has started the exercise of entering statistical data from voters' roll:

The Electoral Commssion of was during the past days busy with entering the statistical data and information gained from the registration of voters activity which ended last week. The Electoral Commission therefore hired additional staff in order to carry this excercise, the activity is expected to be completed in the next two weeks.

The data will help the Commission in recording the number of registered voters per region and constitituency, and thus will make the voting processs at the end of the year much easier.

You can also follow updates of elections in Namibia on twitter and African Elections site.

We are learning from Zambia Watchdog that only four countries in the SADC region recognise Africa Day as a public holiday:

Looking back, it seems like the unity demonstrated by Africans as they fought against colonialism and imperialistic dominance is no longer there. In some parts of the continent, leaders are so self-centred that continental issues have been relegated to the very bottom.

Is it not a shame that to this day, few African countries recognise Africa Day? Is it not a shame that very few countries on the continent have set aside this day as a public holiday? And what lessons does this teach the future generation?

Looking at the calendars of the 14-members of SADC, only four countries - Namibia, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe recognise Africa Day as a public holiday. In the SADC region, it is only Namibia which has made the singing of the AU anthem a permanent feature at public gatherings and in schools.

Jason Von Berg blogs about Africa Day related events that took place in South Africa:

So in celebration of Africa Day, there’s a whole host of things happening in South Africa. The annual Africa Day concert took place at the Mary Fitzgerald Square in Newtown, Johannesburg…

Now speaking of music videos, here is another Africa Day-focused one, in which Namibian artist Gazza has teamed up with SA star Zola on a song called “Hold On”. The song is sponsored by UNICEF and Standard Bank Namibia and it calls on all Africans to unite against the atrocities and conflicts that damages the African image…

The best way to celebrate Africa Day is through hard work, writes the Root Cause:

Being an African, and a part of a new generation of South Africans, I am forced to look north towards the rest of the continent, and wonder if it will ever rise out of the misery and sadness that keeps it from really being a part of the world community.

But at the same time I have this terrible problem of being an optimist by nature; I have this faith that this is Africa’s century. A time to be nurtured from within. Really making a go for it!

The Irish Aid supported Africa Day celebrations in Ireland. Culch.ie writes about events in Dublin:

On Sunday coming, 24th May, from 12pm til 8pm, Africa Day are having a FREE outdoor event in Iveagh Gardens in Dublin 2. There is a huge variety of entertainment on offer here for kids as well as adults

There is a Flickr stream of Africa Day 2009 photos in Ireland:

Bock posts “Africa Day Limerick”:

They’re crazy, these Africans. What a shame they have to put up with Irish weather.

What a shame that any of us have to put up with Irish weather where it rains all the time.

Never mind though.

Africans have failed to learn key lessons about taking care of themselves, argues Angela Kintu in her post about Africa Day:

Africa has had a few tough decades with interference from our not-so-neighbourly neighbouring continents. And while the neighbours appear to be trying to make up for the bad times, conspiracy theories abound on how they are now colonising our minds since they no longer have legal access to our bodies. Maybe, maybe not. What is clear is that we have failed to learn key lessons about taking care of ourselves. We can be like penguins in a hole, looking up with our mouths open, waiting for someone to throw us a free fish.

In the twittersphere, the Irish Aid created a special Africa Day page.

Below are tweets that one finds on twitter about Africa Day:

NeoAid: There's more Africa than what usually makes headlines (poverty/AIDS/war/famine) - See Africa Differently this #africaday http://ow.ly/94cS

tsepeaces: Happy Africa Day! #africaday

NeoAid: If you happen to be in Ireland for #africaday, check out Irish Aid's celebrations at http://ow.ly/94aT or follow them @AfricaDay

neoaidcom: If you happen to be in Ireland for #africaday, check out Irish Aid's celebrations at http://ow.ly/94ay or follow them @AfricaDay

paoladm: #africaday hello a f r i c a ,http://www.london.gov.uk/mayor/culture/africaday/

NeoAid: Happy Africa Day everybody! http://ow.ly/94ak #africaday

neoaidcom: Happy Africa Day everybody! http://ow.ly/949K #africaday

loopyginee: RT @Devcrossing: RT @mulumba Happy Africa Day ma peoples! #africaday- And to you too!!!

micknsk: RT @negrita How good and how pleasant it would be/Before God and man/To see the unification of all Africans. Africa Unite #africaday