By: Kelvin Chiringa
The coalition of opposition political parties has collapsed at the Okahandja municipality Tuesday afternoon after the UDF walked out to join the Swapo party, undercutting the IPC, ORPA and LPM’s hold to power.
An election to choose the next leadership also stalled after IPC, ORPA and LPM councillors boycotted.
They accused the magistrate of failing to stick to the law during the proceedings.
The parties were further irked by Otjozondjupa governor James Uerikua, who showed up to witness the process.
IPC councillor Akser Aupindi has told The Villager that as far as he is concerned, there haven’t been elections, and there is thus no leadership currently at the garden town.
But Swapo constituency councillor, Bethuel Tjaveondja, has said they set up a new council after the UDF joined them.
This new structure has Swapo taking over the mayoral position from LPM’s Natasha Brinkman with Isasker Katuuo as the new mayor.
UDF’s Vincent Gariseb has taken over the management committee chairman position.
But Aupindi has poured water over the election.
“As far as I know, we did not hold any elections. If it has happened behind the door, then it might have happened. One of our coalition members somehow joined the Swapo party, and we realized this when we came to the chambers in the morning.
“We took it as it is. We did not have any issue, but what transpired is that when the magistrate arrived, he was accompanied by a certain lady named Christophina Katau. When the CEO started introducing the house, we wanted to know who is that particular person and what was she doing on the high table. By law, nobody is supposed to accompany him,” he said.
Aupindi said they were irked further when the proceedings started without the national and AU anthem and that the magistrate refused them to ask questions.
After an adjournment, the magistrate requested that the proceedings be moved to a courtroom, a request they also resisted.
ORPA’s Coetzee, who has been at the helm as chairperson, said they are now faced with a problem, given that the law does not allow them to appeal.
He expressed discomfort at the presence of governor Uerikua.
In the process of going to court, Aupindi said the governor had an accident along the way while driving a government vehicle.
“If you look at the videos, you can see there is an argument between honourable Katuuo with regards the election process which last year he screwed up and now he is screwing up again. He doesn’t understand the process. He refers to honourable members as Sir, and he doesn’t even have the respect to call them Honourables.
“I mean, where have you ever seen such a thing? It’s chaos from the beginning to the end, and you got to watch the videos. It’s on YouTube. We are looking at various options, but there is no appeal process, and he doesn’t allow us and one have the feeling that an agenda is being driven,” he said.
In the meantime, Tjaveondja has said that they are the new Sheriff in town.
“All along, Swapo used to work with UDF. We had operated with the Damara by the time UDF was not even in existence. So, in politics, you take whatever you offer to get from whoever. The understanding is that the people were in the majority because they were four.
“So, we took the mayorship position, and we agreed to give him the chairperson position, and the other two of our members have joined the management. We are done. We are done. The bus has moved on. For them, it’s just to see whether they can get in the bus along the route, they get in, and then we move,” he said.
Tjaveondja said there was nothing sinister about Uerikua being present as he showed up in the capacity of governor of the region.
Suppose these elections are to seal the fate of the coalition at Okahandja. In that case, it will be the second time in a matter of a few days that LPM has suffered a defeat as the mayoral position in Aranos has also slipped from their hands due to internal disputes among councillors.
It is presently unclear what next move ORPA, IPC and LPM will take at the garden town.
