ONGWEDIVA – The Ohangwena Rally for Democracy and Progress (RDP) regional leadership will meet on Sunday to elect delegates to the Electoral College scheduled for September 20 in Windhoek.
The RDP will contest for both the Presidential and National Assembly Elections.
RDP not only faces an uphill battle against the dominant Swapo Party but it also faces stiff competition from other opposition parties such as SWANU, DTA, CoD, NUDO, APP, RP and other little-known entities.
According to Ohangwena RDP Regional Secretary Timo Shikongo, all delegates that would be elected this Sunday will be eligible to vote or to be voted for at the party’s electoral college where the party will elect people for its parliamentary list.
Ohangwena RDP regional secretary said his party will embrace the 50/50 gender quarter during the upcoming congress as a means to empower women and to be on par with other parties that have embraced the concept.
Each region is expected to elect 10 delegates to the Electoral College and RDP secretary for information and publicity Jeremiah Nambinga said all the regions had been instructed to nominate delegates.
Shikongo said there are no national leaders assigned to Ohangwena to witness the election but they had elected independent persons to witness the election.
He is optimistic the elections will be free and fair.
Shikongo said this year the party had secured a larger membership compared to the number of people that voted for the party during the 2010 regional elections.
He said the party did not lose the Ohangwena by-election, alleging there was no fairness at the polling station.
“Some political parties are grabbing voters just like taxi drivers are grabbing customers. Voters are not free to vote for representatives of their choice who will hold positions in authority,” claimed Shikongo.
But he said his party had a plan to deal with that situation although he did not want to share the strategy with the journalist at this time.