IPC candidate quits over alleged neglect, claims of walking 25km for ECN meeting

Independent Patriots for Change (IPC) candidate for the Ogongo constituency, Ndalikutya Shonena, has resigned from the party, claiming neglect and lack of support from the party’s leadership.

This comes two weeks before the regional council and local authority elections.

Shonena told The Namibian that he decided to step down after being forced to walk 25km to attend an Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) meeting at the Ogongo constituency office in the Omusati region last week.

He says despite repeated pleas for transport and logistical assistance, no help came from the IPC’s regional leadership. Shonena resigned from IPC last Thursday. He was going to face Swapo’s Daniel Iilende on 26 November.

“I felt disrespected and neglected. How can you expect someone to campaign effectively without any support?” Shonena asks.

The former Swapo member, who joined IPC in 2020, says the party fielded him to contest in the Ogongo constituency, although he resides at Oshikuku.

According to him, he wrote his resignation letter on 6 November, stating he was unable to continue his campaign under the prevailing conditions.

“I have been asking for campaign funds and told the party that I don’t have a car. I asked for assistance so that I could hire transport for campaigning. They told me there was no money available,” he says.

“I was told to use money from my own pocket. I asked myself, I joined the party in 2020 and I have been using my own money to attend party activities, and now as a councillor candidate, I must still volunteer without any support?”

Shonena says the breaking point came when he was forced to walk to the ECN meeting at Iipanda village after being told there was no vehicle available.

“The constituency office is 25km deep in the villages. I called the IPC office at Oshikuku asking for transport, but Kassian Kanyemba, who is at the IPC office at Oshikuku, said there was no vehicle. I walked to and from the ECN meeting, 25km to and from my village to the constituency office. I am a councillor candidate, yet I was walking in public with no transport,” he says.

Following the incident, Shonena decided to resign from the IPC and rejoin Swapo.

“When I joined IPC, I was looking for a job, I wanted to put food on my table. But I realised I was wasting my time,” he says.

He adds that after submitting his resignation, IPC regional leaders, including Kanyemba, visited him on Friday to confirm his departure and inquire which party he planned to join.

Numerous efforts to get hold of Kanyemba yesterday afternoon were futile as he was not reachable.

However, IPC spokesperson for the northern regions, Eino Heelu, says the reasons cited by Shonena as the ground for his resignation are vague. He adds that Shonena resigned at a crucial time as the party is unable to field another candidate in that constituency.

“To us it is quite surprising, and of course we may go ahead to suspect that this individual has possibly been paid for him to have resigned from the party at this crucial time. Any credible Namibian who is given that crucial responsibility will not end up resigning,” he says.

Swapo regional coordinator Sacky Kayone says Shonena is not the first IPC member to resign from the party and join Swapo. “They are many IPC members resigning. Have they been paid? There are also Swapo members who have joined IPC. Did they pay them? It is not a good thing to say. It’s baseless allegations,” Kayone says.

In an age of information overload, Sunrise is The Namibian’s morning briefing, delivered at 6h00 from Monday to Friday. It offers a curated rundown of the most important stories from the past 24 hours – occasionally with a light, witty touch. It’s an essential way to stay informed. Subscribe and join our newsletter community.