Venaani admits strained ties with father amid PDM 6 dispute

Popular Democratic Movement (PDM) president McHenry Venaani says he and his father, Mike Venaani, are no longer speaking as often as they should amid the ongoing PDM Six compensation dispute.Venaani, who nominated his father for a prominent position on the party's parliamentary list, says family relationships cannot influence his decisions on matters involving the party.His father was among the six former parliamentarians pursuing compensation after being excluded from Parliament following the 2019 elections.“Well, we don't talk as much as we are supposed to,” Venaani said last week on the podcast Behind the Wheel.He confirmed that he had personally proposed his father's inclusion on the party list because he believed longstanding members who had helped build the organisation deserved recognition.According to Venaani, his proposal was intended to recognise those contributions while balancing the party's growing emphasis on younger leaders.However, he said the same family relationship could not determine his position in the dispute over the former parliamentarians' claims.The PDM Six dispute stems from changes to the party's parliamentary list following the 2019 elections, which resulted in six candidates being excluded from the National Assembly despite having appeared on the party's electoral list.The matter reached the Supreme Court, which ruled in favour of the affected candidates, resulting in their reinstatement in 2022.The six are seeking compensation for the period during which they were excluded from parliament.Venaani defended the party's earlier decisions, arguing that the changes had been made under circumstances involving the Electoral Commission of Namibia and were not motivated by malice.He maintained that the former parliamentarians' financial claims faced legal and practical difficulties, particularly because they were seeking remuneration for periods during which they had not served in parliament.Venaani argued that political office did not guarantee an individual payment for an entire five-year term regardless of whether that person remained in office.He compared the situation to a president dissolving parliament and calling fresh elections, saying MPs would not automatically be entitled to salaries for the remainder of their original terms.He also referred to the legal principle of prescription, suggesting that the passage of time could present an obstacle to recovering the money.Venaani claimed that some of the affected parliamentarians had been employed by the party during the disputed period, an issue he believes is relevant to their compensation claims.His arguments represent his interpretation of the dispute and do not establish how a court would determine any outstanding claim.Party tensionsVenaani acknowledged that the dispute had affected relationships within the PDM, particularly because the individuals involved were longstanding members who had contributed to the party's development.He said political leadership required difficult decisions, including circumstances in which personal relationships conflicted with what he considered to be the party's interests.Venaani also insisted that the dispute should be assessed on legal and political principles rather than family connections.Although Venaani acknowledged that communication with his father was less frequent than it should be, he did not say they had severed ties or explicitly attribute their reduced contact solely to the parliamentary dispute.In the same interview, Venaani revealed that former PDM parliamentarian Vipuakuje Muharukua, who later joined Swapo and was appointed governor of the Kunene Region in March 2025, had once been among the politicians he considered grooming to succeed him as party president.Venaani described Muharukua as a rising political figure who had shown considerable promise within the organisation before their political relationship deteriorated.He said he had intended to prepare Muharukua for a future leadership role when the time came for him to step aside, but suggested that Muharukua began positioning himself for leadership prematurely.Muharukua, who resigned from the PDM and National Assembly in April 2024, had previously been regarded as a possible challenger to Venaani for the party presidency.Venaani described Muharukua's departure from the party as a surprise, particularly because he had regarded him as someone with the potential to take over the organisation.The disclosure comes as Venaani faces renewed questions about his own political future, having previously indicated that he intended to relinquish the party presidency.During the interview, he said senior PDM figures had approached him to reconsider his departure, expressing concern that the party had not yet identified a suitable successor.He said he remained committed to creating opportunities for younger politicians, although he was weighing his personal intentions against appeals from party elders to remain in office.

Venaani admits strained ties with father amid PDM 6 dispute

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Namibian Sun 2026-10-12

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Venaani admits strained ties with father amid PDM 6 dispute

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Namibian Sun 2026-10-12

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