RDP denies members’ defections to Swapo

Written by Patience Nyangove

Thursday, 26 November 2009

RALLY for Democracy and Progress Councilors for Tobias Hainyeko Constituency, Erasmus Kaptein Endjala and his wife Martha who were said to have defected to Swapo last week dismissed the claims saying they would never ever rejoin Swapo again.



Speaking at an RDP star rally on Saturday in Windhoek, Endjala and his wife, denied ever going back to Swapo as was alleged by Swapo.

“We will never ever go back to Swapo because the party doesn’t represent the interests of the majority,” Endjala said.

President Hidipo Hamutenya, who was the main speaker, described the ruling party’s parading of purported former RDP supporters at its rallies as hogwash.

Hamutenya said it was in fact the RDP which was attracting more former Swapo members at its rallies.

He said at their rallies in Outapi, RDP recorded 150 former Swapo members, in Opuwo 180 while in Gobabis there were 40.

“People are not defecting from RDP, people are in actual fact joining RDP from Swapo,” Hamutenya said.

He said there is a plan by Swapo to unveil a big number of supposed former RDP supporters at one of the party’s last rallies the election campaigns draw to an end.

“There is absolutely no such thing that our people are defecting to Swapo. This is designed to look as if people are defecting. We are confident about our popularity and our appeal as such.

“We don’t see why there is such a claim. RDP is a new party and there is no reason for people to defect. If, indeed, there are people defecting, then they were never RDP members but rather political hitchhikers,” Hamutenya said.

Hamutenya said the party currently has 390, 000 members on its database.

The Swapo party has been parading people purported to be former RDP members at some of its rallies across the country who had deserted the new party on the pretext that RDP had nothing concrete to offer the electorate, that the party is rocked by infighting, foot soldiers are being forced to campaign offering unrealistic promises and that the party had lost the hype it had when it was formed two years ago.