WINDHOEK – Rally for Democracy and Progress’s (RDP’s) Walter Ndakondja, who contested for the position of party secretary general at the elective convention held recently in Windhoek, has described the conference as a “sham”.
Ndakondja, without elaborating as to why he thinks the conference was a sham, says he pulled out of the race at the eleventh hour because of reasons he is not willing to share with the media.
”I do not want to explain myself why I pulled out of the race – all am saying is that the convention was a sham; all I want is for you to put it on record that I said that,” he said.
At the convention late on Sunday, RDP City of Windhoek (CoW) Councillor Brunhilde Cornelius was elected secretary general of the party, while Member of Parliament (MP) Agnes Limbo was elected deputy secretary general.
Cornelius contested for the position with Ndakondja and party chief administrator Asser Sheuyange.
The two joined new party president Mike Kavekotora and his deputy Kennedy Shekupakela whose results were announced earlier on Sunday.
Kavekotora, speaking to the media after the announcement of the results, said he has his eyes firmly set on becoming Namibia’s president after the national elections slated for November.
Kavekotora, 62, who hails from the Kunene Region, told Nampa: “I can assure you that it is going to be a very different year in Namibia’s political landscape. My eyes now after going through the first hurdle are set on the presidency. I am going to State House [as Head of State].”
Asked how this ambitious dream would be realised, he replied: “We are going to put up a strategy. We will go to every corner of this country to demonstrate that the current ruling party has failed in the delivery of services and aspirations of the Namibian people.”
The ruling party Swapo has confirmed on numerous occasions that its leader, Head of State Hage Geingob, is to stand as its candidate.
There have been murmurs among some Swapo members of a possibility of an independent candidate from within the party ranks.
Swapo’s official position is that any of its members contemplating to run as an independent presidential candidate would have to officially resign from the party, or risk being expelled.
The RDP was launched on November 17, 2007 under the leadership of late Hidipo Hamutenya and Jesaya Nyamu, both former leading members of the ruling Swapo and former cabinet ministers.
Hamutenya had unsuccessfully sought the Swapo nomination for president in 2004.
At the time of its launch, RDP was considered to represent the strongest challenge to Swapo’s political dominance since the country gained its independence in 1990.
According to Hamutenya back then, speaking at the RDP’s launch, the party was “born in response to our people’s deep longing for a vision, political direction and the rekindling of their hopes and aspirations for a better and prosperous future”.
Though it became the country’s official opposition party after the 2009 general elections, the party performed poorly in the 2014 elections and lost its official opposition status to McHenry Venaani’s DTA, now called the Popular Democratic Movement (PDM).