ONGWEDIVA – All People’s Party (APP) member Tangy Mike Tshilongo, who recently dragged the Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) to court, has re-joined the party after initially tendering his resignation on Thursday last week.
“I would like to make it categorically clear that I revert my decision for resigning from APP and I am still a member until the party says I can no longer be there,” Tshilongo said yesterday.
Tshilongo, in a mouthful social media post last week in which he tendered his purported resignation, said the last eight months during which he has been an APP member, have been a very difficult chapter of his life. “Being in APP for eight months was a very difficult chapter in my life that I will never ever wish to happen to any young person. In as much as it toughened me up, it will never be anything I’d want any young person to go through,” he said in his Facebook post. Yesterday, he said his resignation was fuelled by an internal party matter which he cannot discuss with the media. Tshilongo joined APP in February this year.
APP Secretary General Vincent Kanyetu confirmed having received Tshilongo’s resignation, but could not announce it because his family has approached him to reject the resignation.
“The family said I should not accept his resignation. They said he is not going anywhere, because he brought them into the party,” said Kanyetu. Kanyetu said it is on that basis that he has not been able to announce Tshilongo’s departure, as is the norm. Kanyetu described Tshilongo as a fearless young leader.
“I have high hopes for him, he is the type who can speak his mind and is not scared to criticise internal party matters or external and that is the kind of people we need,” Kanyetu said.
Tshilongo also claimed that he did not receive a 100 percent support when he took the electoral commission on.
“I got 50 percent, but I didn’t get the other 50 percent from the party,” said Tshilongo.
Tshilongo lost the battle with ECN in which he brought an urgent application before the Oshakati Regional Court to halt the just ended by-election last month.
The APP member charged that their candidate was refused to contest despite arriving late on the day of the nomination submission.
Upon tendering his resignation, he claims he declined two offers to join other political parties including the ruling party Swapo.