UDF plots comeback in Erongo

The United Democratic Front (UDF) will send its national leadership to every village and town in the Dâures constituency after a post-mortem of last year’s regional council and local authority elections found the party had lost ground in its traditional strongholds.The party’s Erongo post-mortem conference, held at Uis on Saturday, also heard that some members voted for other parties’ candidates after the candidates they backed lost the UDF primaries.Some 45 people attended, among them vice-president Nico Somaeb, secretary-general Daniel Tsaneb, committee members and the leadership of the Erongo branches.Michael Skini, UDF secretary of justice and legal affairs and the conference organiser, said the party performed well in Khorixas but not in Kamanjab and Dâures.“What we did not do well is to maintain and get a grip on our strongholds, especially the Kamanjab area and the Dâures constituency,” he told Erongo, Namibian Sun's sister publication.In last year’s regional council elections, the UDF received 5 013 votes across Erongo’s seven constituencies.Swakopmund (1 251), Dâures (1 199) and Karibib (1 155) gave it the most votes, followed by Arandis (561), Omaruru (377), Walvis Bay Rural (252) and Walvis Bay Urban (218).Nationally, the party received 18 945 votes in 2014, 14 644 in 2019 and 16 828 in 2024.The conference resolved that each Erongo branch will draft a campaign plan and that the national leadership will visit Dâures to verify the party’s database.‘Heal wounds’Skini said the fragmentation of the opposition cost the UDF votes, with prominent members leaving for the Independent Patriots for Change (IPC) and other parties. The IPC has the upper hand in Swakopmund and Walvis Bay, where Swapo also performed well, he said.He said mines coming up in the Okombahe and Uis area are drawing job-seekers.“And you know that most of the people that are coming in are Swapo members," he claimed.Moreover, young people the party targets are not interested in voting, he added, and many of those without jobs see leaders as doing nothing about their problems.Skini said some members do not see the UDF as one party and vote only for candidates from their own region or only for women candidates.“So once they have realised that the member they have supported has lost out at primaries, some of them, because of that disgruntledness, because of that dissatisfaction, went and voted for candidates from other political parties,” he said. “We need to heal these wounds so that it cannot happen in the future.”Extend outreachIn his speech to delegates, Skini said the party “must not allow factional interests, personal loyalties, friendships or internal divisions to determine who represents our party”.The party’s constitutional review, a resolution of its 2024 congress, will address how candidates are ranked. Branch chairpersons and vice-chairpersons are placed first and second on local authority lists by virtue of their positions. Members want the candidate with the most votes in the primaries placed first.Final inputs from the party’s structures are due to the constitutional review committee by the end of November.Skini said the party will also focus on door-to-door campaigns.“The moment you come and knock, they will ask you, where were you all these five years?” he said.The UDF also plans to extend its reach to the Otjozondjupa, Hardap and Omaheke regions.Two Popular Democratic Movement (PDM) members joined the UDF at the conference. Memrod Haraseb is a former Henties Bay councillor and PDM central committee member. Sydney Seibeb contested the Arandis constituency for the PDM in the 2025 regional council elections.In a statement, Tsaneb said both are former UDF members.“I urge all UDF members and structures to welcome the two comrades with open arms, without victimisation, intimidation or prejudice. I also encourage those wishing to join or rejoin the UDF to do so without fear,” he said.

UDF plots comeback in Erongo

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Namibian Sun 2026-11-05

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UDF plots comeback in Erongo

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Namibian Sun 2026-11-05

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