Former Attorney General Musa Mwenye has commended Namibia for holding its six credible elections, in accordance with the Commonwealth principles on democracy.

And Mwenye says allowing some people to build in forest reserves and on top of water aquifers will plunge Lusaka into a serious water shortage.

Mwenye, who is Commonwealth Election Observer Mission Chairman in Namibia, said although that country was young, it had held six credible elections and deserved commendation for adhering to the Commonwealth principles on democracy.

Mwenye said this in Namibia, Tuesday, when he paid a courtesy call on that country’s President, Hage Geingob.

Öur team is returning from places where we deployed them. If there are any specific concerns as we have done with other stakeholders, Your Excellency, we would be interested to know them. Otherwise, as mission, we feel although Namibia is a relatively young nation, it has held 6 credible elections and deserves commendation for adhering to the commonwealth principles on democracy,” said Musa.

And President Geingob appealed to the observers to help encourage contestants to accept election results, further committing himself to doing the same.

“In this game, we should play the ball and not play each other. When the game is over, we must kick the ball away and hug each other. I have lost elections before and have accepted the results and moved on. May be that’s why I am president today. I’m willing to accept loss and observers should help us by encouraging us to accept loss,” said President Geingob.

Meanwhile, in a statement, Mwenye stated that Lusaka would have a critical shortage of water due to mishandling of forests which were the only points through which rain water could go underground.

“We have shortage of electricity now but unless we change course and reverse some decisions that have been made, Lusaka will also have a critical shortage of water due to mishandling of forests that are the only points through which rain water can go underground. Lusaka sits on a solid rock and that is why when it rains heavily, there are floods in several areas of Lusaka. Rain water can only go underground through specific points. These points were identified and preserved as forests from the days of Dr Kenneth Kaunda’s Government. Some people are now being allowed to build in these forests,” Mwenye lamented.

He warned that boreholes and wells in Lusaka would run dry.

“Eventually, the development of roads and building of concrete upon these valuable points will result in the total loss of points through which water can go underground and Lusaka will run out of ground water. In simple terms, all the boreholes and wells in Lusaka will run dry. It is our duty to sound this warning now, there is still time to change course,” warned Mwenye.