National Unity Democratic Organisation secretary general (SG) Joseph Kauandenge yesterday equated the party to a ship on the verge of sinking if it does not rid itself of a “cancer” tearing it asunder.
The cancer he was figuratively referring to is the Ovaherero Traditional Authority (OTA) and its two factions.
Kauandenge said his decision to pull out of the Nudo presidential race was due to his affiliation with one OTA faction, which appears not to be in the right books of the powers-that-be.
Speaking at a press conference yesterday, the youthful politician said he used everything in his toolkit to rescue the party, but gave up.
“I believe that it was time that political positions were a means to one’s survival. Political positions are a vehicle through which to obtain employment. I hoped we could debunk that because, that is not what I believe in. However, I concluded that political positions should be merely used to address societal problems, and economic and political issues that confront our people.
“We must never use political positions as employment opportunities. That is the reason why I availed [sic] myself in the first instance to run for the presidency of the party,” a clearly irate Kauandenge said, setting the tone for his exit message from the political theatre.
When he set himself up for the race, he thought he would be judged based on his track record spanning over 30 years; his contribution to Nudo inside and outside Parliament; as well as his manifesto on how he intends to take the party to the proverbial Promised Land.
He was wrong.
“Never in my wildest dreams did I foresee that my affiliation or lack of affiliation to one or the other traditional authority leadership would be used against me in determining whether I am capable or not,” Kauandenge said, lifting the veil on the extent to which the OTA dictates Nudo’s internal affairs.
He conceded that Nudo and the OTA are symbiotically tied.
“Nudo, like no other party, has strong traditional authorities’ influence, and we currently have two factions fighting each other over which faction is the rightful heir to the throne of the Ovaherero Traditional Authority, an authority that has so much influence over the internal dynamics of the party,” he elucidated.
Cancer
However, the squabbles are now spilling over to the party, he added. Here, the lawmaker-cum-musician did not mince his words.
“Nudo is contaminated with these squabbles, and it is like cancer eating the soul of the party. The soul of the parish is at stake, and the stakes are high,” said Kauandenge.
After efforts to salvage the situation hit a brick wall, he threw in the towel, he said.
“The current prevailing situation is in total conflict with my principles as a nationalist, a pragmatic being and a free-spirited soul, whose only preoccupation is and has been to have capable, tested and people-centred people to lead Nudo,” the lawyer said.
“A Titanic is sinking in as far as Nudo is concerned. Let us be forewarned.
I am a politician, and I have been here since I was 18 years old. I can forecast and see that the Titanic is sinking; unless we change course and say, ‘Let’s divorce these two things: belong to your own OTA faction and have your chief’.
But when it comes to Nudo, let’s only be members of Nudo, who will only talk about what is in the best interest of the party,” he cautioned.
The two OTA factions are each led by academics Mutjinde Katjiua and Hoze Riruako.
The two groups do not see eye-to-eye, and are opposed on key Ovaherero issues.
Riruako was not reachable for comment yesterday.
However, responding to New Era yesterday afternoon, Katjiua said, “Questions are being raised about where I stand with this or that political party.
My response is simple: My office is non-partisan. Therefore, I play no active role in party politics – be it in Botswana, RSA, USA, Canada, UK, Germany, Angola or Namibia, where Ovaherero are citizens”.
Ties that bind
Back in 2022, Kauandenge admitted to the existence of a blurred line between Nudo and the OTA.
He said the two could not be divorced.
This is because Nudo was conceptualised and formed by the Ovaherero Chiefs’ Council in the early 60s.
“The direct consequence being that the two entities now share subjects, and the OTA traditional chiefs are the backbone of the party,” he was quoted as saying.
Since the death of Ovaherero Paramount Chief Vekuii Rukoro, a dispute has ensued regarding his potential successor.
“I am cognisant of the fact and reality that one cannot divorce the Nudo party from the Chiefs Council and OTA in general,” he said then.
Over the years, Nudo has shrugged off the tribal tag that it is a Herero political party, continuously maintaining it is a national formation for all Namibians, a position Kauandenge reaffirmed.
Dirty linen
However, the seasoned politician was quick to note that he would not wash Nudo’s dirty linen in public. “This and many others are the reasons why I have a change of heart when running for any position within the party. However, I cannot, in good conscience, bare my party’s dirty linen in public as this is tantamount to saying you’re noticing that your wife has one eye only now when you are on the verge of divorce,” he stated.
He hastened to say he would not be jumping ship to join another political formation, and would be available to serve at the behest of the elected Nudo leadership, should his expertise be required.
Collective
Kauandenge took time to reflect on his tumultuous tenure in Nudo’s engine-room. As SG, he is the equivalent of a corporate entity’s CEO.
From where he stands, whether they succeeded or failed over the past five years is attributable to the collective leadership.
“However, truth be told, we operated for the past five years under intense pressure from the 2019 Congress, and those fights are still visible today... It was not easy to lead this party for the past five years,” he admitted. For Kauandenge, the future looks bleak for Nudo, should the status quo prevail.
“Should we fail to change course, we are going to have the same problems or even worse, where the internal situation will become so toxic that even if you bring a PhD holder to run the party, that leadership will not be able to lead the party at all as they will spend more time quelling fights internally, as opposed to advancing the party’s agenda outside,” he observed pessimistically.
Congress
Yesterday, Kauandenge became the second top Nudo leader to pull out of the intraparty presidential contest after party leader Utjiua Muinjangue.
Those left standing are party vice president and Aminuis constituency councillor Peter Kazongominja, erstwhile Okakarara constituency councillor Vetaruhe Kandorozu, deputy Windhoek mayor Joseph Uapingene and former Namibia Football Association SG Barry Rukoro.
At the watershed Indaba between 12-13 July, over 500 Nudo loyalists will meet under one roof to decide the party’s fate for the next five years.
Kauandenge said everything is in place to hold the congress – “come hell or high water”.
He also played his cards close to his chest as to whom among the quartet he would rally behind, now that he had relinquished his interest in becoming president. He stressed that his withdrawal should never be conflated with weakness.
“There has not been a candidate born who can beat me at congress if I decide to run – not among these candidates. That’s a fact. But what is more important? Is it for me to run, causing more division within the party because we have five different candidates running for the same position, or should there be someone who will be the sacrificial lamb and assist Nudo as a political party to remain relevant? Let me be that sacrificial lamb,” he said.