Stefanus Nashama
Political commentator, Ben Mulongeni said the expectation of the Namibia Economic Freedom Fighters (NEFF) leader, Epafras Mukwiilongo, for the party not to receive one seat from the 2024 general elections is realistic.
The party currently has two seats in parliament.
Mulongeni shared these sentiments with the Windhoek Observer on Sunday.
“His expectation is objective. Where did the two seats come from and how did the party only get that one seat at the time of its popularity growing,” he questioned.
However, Mulongeni said Mukwiilongo is not the only disappointed one.
Other political parties, such as Nudo, the All People’s Party (APP), and the Republican Party (RP), also lost one seat each.
“Swapo could be the biggest disappointment since it lost a lot in the elections,” said Mulongeni.
Mukwiilongo said it was not possible that his party only got one seat.
“I just don’t understand how we got one chair. Even the parties who have not been on the ground got more than one chair,” said Mukwiilongo.
Mulongeni said Mukwiilongo is just crying but there is no big difference between the two seats and the one he got.
He added that what has eaten other parties, such as Swapo and the Popular Democratic Movement (PDM), is what has eaten NEFF.
“The reason could not just be traced to the rigging of elections but also the performance of political parties. Maybe his seat went to Lukato or Amupanda,” he said.
Political analyst Sakaria Johannes said Mukwiilongo should understand the current political environment.
“There were not many alternatives at the time NEFF was established, meaning people had no more choices. Now that there is IPC and AR, the environment has changed,” he said.
Johannes also questioned the agenda NEFF pushed when elected to Parliament in 2019.
“What did they do in Parliament to attract more masses? They are lucky to have that one chair,” he said.
He added that the deregistration of the party and the resignation of activist Michael Amushelelo contributed to the loss.
“Some people left with Amushelelo to LPM and they remained there even when he rejoined NEFF. Remember, when Amushe left, NEFF became weak and invisible,” said Johannes.
He urged the party to re-strategise its political operations.
The NEFF was deregistered last year by the Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) for failing to submit its audited financial statements since 2020.
It was later reinstated with only a few days to go before the elections.
