In song and dance, in their anthems, both national and party, in the resonance of self expression, Namibians testified to the potency of pre-colonial feelings.

Most of them remember the dark days of apartheid rule under white South Africa; their loyalties unabashedly lie with the party whose name, for decades, symbolised the face of freedom-and hope.

Counting in Namibia's third multiparty elections ended monday with Swapo taking more seats than ever before-it has increased its presence in the 72 member national assembly to 55 from 53 in the 1994 elections, shredding all prediction. It romped to victory with 408 174 votes, representing 77 percent of the ballots cast.

"Sam Nujoma, is the one who freed us..Namibia is now ours..come so we fight the Boer", Sang a seven thousand strong crowd, celebrating the ruling party's victory at the multipurpose Youth complex sports field in the sprawling township of Katutura.

A former German territory, Namibia was entrusted to South Africa soon after the first world war in 1918, by the League of Nations- forerunner of the United Nations.

But South Africa refused to cede administrative power to the UN despite a 1967 ruling by the Security Council terminating its mandate. A Swapo-led freedom struggle saw Namibia independent in 1990.

The Congress of Democrats(CoD), the seven month old opposition party that was expected to have prevented a Swapo two-thirds majority sweep, succeeded only in supplanting the Democratic Turnhalle Alliance(DTA) as official parliamentary opposition.

The CoD came in at 53, 289 votes against DTA's 50,824. Both ended up with seven seats each in the national assembly. In the list-proportional representation electoral model operated in Namibia, the seats are calculated by dividing the size of parliament(72) into the votes scored by each party.

The Monitor Action Group(MAG) settled for one while the United Democratic Front(UDF) got two.

The CoD, a product of disagreements within Swapo, raised hopes amongst some analysts that it would change the political landscape, as it boasted of some key national figures of which its president Ben Ulenga was prime.

Others-and they were few-doubted that an untested party would so easily etch into the territory of an entrenched political force. In the north, where more than 300,000 of the 850,000plus voters dwell, Swapo reigns supreme.

In fact, the total vote cast was 541 114, lending credence to election observers' assertions that the voter population was exagerrated by an erroneous register. About 5 078 ballots were spoilt.

And why does Swapo continue to win? According to Professor Gerhard Totermeyer, a former director of elections and a staunch Swapo member, the confidence in Swapo runs across the country, maintaining its buoyant status. He allayed opposition fears that Swapo's overwhelming majority will mean it shall re-write the constitution to suit its aims.

"On the two-thirds majority, we have to respect the will of the people. Swapo itself believes in democracy and democracy is not lost but strengthened. We have to nature the trust bestowed in us", he said.

An upbeat Nujoma, who roared to triumph with 414,096 votes against his nearest rival Ulenga's 56 541, pledged to lift the country above the problems bedogging it-poverty, unemployment, education standards, landlessness and HIV/AIDS.

In an acceptance speech at the results centre in Windhoek last night, Nujoma urged his countrymen to work together to ensure that Namibia entered the next millennium a prosperous nation.

"We intend rolling up our sleeves starting immediately. We will not rest until these problems are addressed to our and your satisfaction. That is our promise...", he told a gathering of Swapo, opposition leaders, and senior electoral staff.

But CoD's Ulenga, a former London-based Diplomat who resigned after Swapo sponsored legislation to extend Nujoma's presidential term beyond two, was notably absent from the final ceremony-and evidently disatisfied with the poll.

"As far as we are concerned, there are a few questions that remain to be answered with regard to accounting and voting", he told journalists.

"Not everything went according to the book. We are discussing this with the directorate of elections because, according to our officers, there have been irregularities. There have been things that should not have happened", he complained.

A strong campaign on land issues, corruption and the economy, failed to push Ulenga and CoD beyond the ordinary sphere of parliamentary presence to which the Namibian opposition seems relegated to.