Johannes Congo Hindjou
Swapo primary elections at Okahandja have now been given the green light and are set to roar to life this coming Sunday at Townhall from 17h00.
The publication of the final list of contenders drew discomfort and discontent from some members as the suspended councillors were left out of the race.
What has irked a faction closely allied to the suspended councillors is that these have not been formally charged while it is strongly believed that they are mere victims of a fierce factional wrangle that has divided the party in Okahandja.
Those that could not make it are Gideon Uwukheib, Hellini Itha, Johannes Congo Hindjou and Helmi Maruru.
These were suspended by then urban and rural development minister Peya Mushelenga who has been accused of bias.
Another big surprise is Sophia Upithe who has not made it to the final list despite having received higher level backing to be Okahandja’s next mayor after Congo Hindjou fell out.
She is said to have pushed pieces towards the booting out of the councillors before she too was suspended.
“Sophia Upithe was the preferred candidate as per the directive from the SG in 2018 take over as mayor of the town. None of the councillors, even the opposition, wanted to nominate her and Okahandja was known to have defied a directive from the SG, four months later the councillors were suspended,” a source close to the Okahandja politics said.
Her fall is understood to be due to her backing of the suspensions, bringing to the fore, the divisions playing out at Okahandja.
Hileni Itha, another member who has failed to make it said this was all politics and she was fine with the results.
“Politics is like that. When I went in, some people wanted to go in, I don’t have a problem, I know this is just politics. I joined the party in 1976,” she said.
