Muinjangue is Nudo’s only president – Kauandenge

National Unity Democratic Organisation (Nudo) secretary general Joseph Kauandenge says deputy health minister Esther Muinjangue is the party’s only legitimate president.

This comes after a splinter group of the party convened a congress on Saturday where former Namibia Football Association secretary general Barry Rukoro was elected as president unopposed.

Kauandenge says the Nudo official congress will be held in May 2025 as per the resolution of Nudo’s highest decision-making body, the National Council, that took that resolution on 31 August at its sixth meeting held in Windhoek.

“Furthermore the same body, as empowered by the Constitution, also re-affirmed that the current Nudo leadership under Ester Muinjangue will lead the party until the next congress is held next year 2025,” Kauandenge says.

He says the Nudo congress usually consists of 688 delegatesfrom across the country, while the splinter group’s meeting had around 300 delegates.

“With some faces we don’t even know and we can dispute as per our congress master list that they are not the real vetted delegates that should have attended the aborted congress. Nudo has a functioning leadership under president Ester Muinjangue that can only be removed by another legitimate congress and nothing else,” Kauandenge says.

Speaking to New Era on Saturday, Rukoro defended his election, saying they had begged and pleaded for a congress to be held to no avail.

“The other people (Muinjangue’s leadership) decided they would only hold a congress next year, which is unacceptable. They are now calling this congress illegal, but they themselves are there illegally, so ours is a legitimate congress,” Rukoro said.