Erasmus Shalihaxwe
The National Unity Democratic Organisation’s (NUDO) secretary general, Joseph Kauandenge said he is yet to make up his mind on whether to return to the race to contest for a leadership position at the party’s elective congress on Saturday.
Kauandenge said this on Thursday during an interview with this publication while responding to reports that he is planning to return to the race and contest to remain in his current position.
A source within NUDO politics told the Windhoek Observer that Kauandenge and former Okakarara constituency councillor Vetaruhe Kandorozu are planning to gang up against former football administrator Barry Rukoro to keep him out of the race for Kandorozu to win the party’s presidential race and for Kauandenge to win the secretary general position.
In May this year, Kauandenge abandoned his bid for the party presidency, citing too much interference from two factions of Ovaherero traditional authorities (OTA).
The OTA factions, led by Hoze Riruako and Mutjinde Katjiua, have been at odds since the death of former Paramount Chief Vekuii Rukoro in 2021.
“The sad situation in my beloved party is that logic, common sense, and contribution to the party has been reduced to a nullity and of no consequence. Because, as we are aware, the Nudo party is like none other, as we have strong traditional authority 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 on the internal dynamics of the party,” said Kauandenge at the time.
When questioned on Thursday whether the rumours were true, he denied teaming up with Kandorozu to keep Rukoro out of the race and also denied running for any position.
“No, I didn’t make up my mind yet. I still stand by my earlier decision not to run for any position,” said Kauandenge.
Kandorozu also denied teaming up with Kauandenge to defeat Rukoro and confirmed that he is still in the race. However, Kauandenge can still be nominated from the floor, and it will be up to him to accept or decline.
“All I know is that Kauandenge is still running the party affairs, and his supporters have decided to rally behind Peter Kazongominja and Joseph Uapingene,” said Kandorozu.
Rukoro said he is still running and is concerned about nothing because his supporters will take him to the party’s top.
“As far as I am concerned, there are no issues, especially with my membership which they were talking about. I heard the executive committee will decide on Thursday or Friday. But as for us, we are moving forward with our plans to contest for the presidency,” said Rukoro.
