THE DTA has suffered yet another political blow with the defection of six of its regional councillors, including two members of the National Council, to the National Unity Democratic Organisation (Nudo).
The six councillors announced their move at a Nudo congress held near Aminuis last week. They are: Mburumba Kerina of Aminuis constituency; Billy Katjatenja (Otjinene constituency); Theofelus Uahongora (Omatako constituency); Asser Mbai (Okakarara constituency); Jonathan Katjimune (Tsumkwe constituency); and Edward Mumbuu of (Opuwo constituency).Kerina and Mumbuu have DTA seats in the National Council.Their resignations, which come into effect at the end of February, end months of speculation about their political future after it was rumoured that they had supported Chief Kuaima Riruako’s decision to pull Nudo out of the DTA.Mbai told The Namibian: “DTA politics has come to an end.It has stagnated.That is why affiliate parties and individual members are leaving … The party has totally lost direction”.Katjimune lamented: “The DTA was our beloved father, but now he is dead and there is nothing we can do about that.We just have to forget about him and move on”.Asked why they had taken so long to quit the DTA, the outgoing councillors said that, while awaiting Nudo’s registration as an independent party, they had been consulting and mobilising their electorates.Mbai said: “As councillors we were delegated responsibilities such as running our respective constituencies … we also had development programmes and projects that were still running, and needed to finalise all these things and properly hand them over to the relevant authorities”.The Okakarara councillor scoffed at suggestions that the councillors had risked reprimands or even expulsion from the DTA over their open support for Riruako while serving in the alliance.”We were never going to be reprimanded or expelled by the DTA, we were not appointed into our positions but were directly voted by our people,” he said.The departing councillors said they were relishing the prospect of standing for Nudo against DTA candidates should the Electoral Commission decide to hold by-elections in their respective constituencies.Nudo President Kuaima Riruako hailed the arrival of the six councillors as a “milestone” for his party which he says has attracted huge support from different parts of the country since its withdrawal from the DTA fold.”Nudo has at last broken the political shackles which bound it for the last 20-odd years to the DTA,” he declared.”Nudo now humbly and seriously appeals to all Namibian people to come so that we can join hands in this crusade to avert the looming social and political catastrophe in our country”.The six councillors’ resignation had been feared as a major setback for the DTA, which has been slipping into relentless political crisis since the middle of last year when its two most powerful affiliates – the Republican Party and Nudo – severed ties with the alliance.A clear indication of how the defections would hurt the DTA came in October last year when the party lost control of its Windhoek West constituency stronghold in a by-election.The DTA came a disappointing fourth, with only 458 of the 5 300 votes cast during the by-election, which followed the resignation of former DTA councillor Henk Mudge from the party.Since the latest defections, efforts by The Namibian to obtain comment from the DTA have proved fruitless as the party’s entire leadership was said to be still on holiday.They are: Mburumba Kerina of Aminuis constituency; Billy Katjatenja (Otjinene constituency); Theofelus Uahongora (Omatako constituency); Asser Mbai (Okakarara constituency); Jonathan Katjimune (Tsumkwe constituency); and Edward Mumbuu of (Opuwo constituency). Kerina and Mumbuu have DTA seats in the National Council. Their resignations, which come into effect at the end of February, end months of speculation about their political future after it was rumoured that they had supported Chief Kuaima Riruako’s decision to pull Nudo out of the DTA. Mbai told The Namibian: “DTA politics has come to an end. It has stagnated. That is why affiliate parties and individual members are leaving … The party has totally lost direction”. Katjimune lamented: “The DTA was our beloved father, but now he is dead and there is nothing we can do about that. We just have to forget about him and move on”. Asked why they had taken so long to quit the DTA, the outgoing councillors said that, while awaiting Nudo’s registration as an independent party, they had been consulting and mobilising their electorates. Mbai said: “As councillors we were delegated responsibilities such as running our respective constituencies … we also had development programmes and projects that were still running, and needed to finalise all these things and properly hand them over to the relevant authorities”. The Okakarara councillor scoffed at suggestions that the councillors had risked reprimands or even expulsion from the DTA over their open support for Riruako while serving in the alliance. “We were never going to be reprimanded or expelled by the DTA, we were not appointed into our positions but were directly voted by our people,” he said. The departing councillors said they were relishing the prospect of standing for Nudo against DTA candidates should the Electoral Commission decide to hold by-elections in their respective constituencies. Nudo President Kuaima Riruako hailed the arrival of the six councillors as a “milestone” for his party which he says has attracted huge support from different parts of the country since its withdrawal from the DTA fold. “Nudo has at last broken the political shackles which bound it for the last 20-odd years to the DTA,” he declared. “Nudo now humbly and seriously appeals to all Namibian people to come so that we can join hands in this crusade to avert the looming social and political catastrophe in our country”. The six councillors’ resignation had been feared as a major setback for the DTA, which has been slipping into relentless political crisis since the middle of last year when its two most powerful affiliates – the Republican Party and Nudo – severed ties with the alliance. A clear indication of how the defections would hurt the DTA came in October last year when the party lost control of its Windhoek West constituency stronghold in a by-election. The DTA came a disappointing fourth, with only 458 of the 5 300 votes cast during the by-election, which followed the resignation of former DTA councillor Henk Mudge from the party. Since the latest defections, efforts by The Namibian to obtain comment from the DTA have proved fruitless as the party’s entire leadership was said to be still on holiday.
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