Kaaronda confident of a Swanu upset in November polls

Swanu president , Evilastus Kaaronda has said he is confident of a good showing of his party at the polls slated for 27 November 2024 . He said the party has been hitting the ground running on the campaign trail to make sure it makes an impact in the upcoming Presidential and National Assembly elections . Speaking to Nampa recently , at Gam where the party had taken its campaign to , Kaaronda said the party ' s leadership has been working around the clock to make the electorate aware of what the party stands for , and why it should be their preferred choice of political home . Kaaronda leads Swanu as its current president , while another faction of the party is led by Charles Katjivirue whose election as party leader in 2021 has been vehemently challenged by Kaaronda and his leadership . The former firebrand trade unionist was elected to the party ' s pole position at a congress in Okahandja in 2022 - something which did not sit well with the faction led by Katjivirue . Katjivirue is currently on suspension for hosting an extraordinary meeting in Windhoek in 2021 which elected him as party leader . Despite this glaring disunity that has rocked the party for the last three years , Kaaronda remains adamant that Swanu wil nonetheless put up a good show at the polls in November . ' We will rise above what is happening in the party currently and make a great impact during the election . We are prepared to go to the polls and are ready to have our share of victory ,' he said . Kaaronda downplayed the disunity in his party - the country ' s oldest political formation which was formed at the height of great suffering and persecution of Namibians at the hands of South Africa . He instead dismissed it as being ' the work of individuals who are doing it for reasons unknown .' ' I am the president of Swanu . There is no other president of this party , it is just me ,' he noted . The faction led by Katjivirue earlier this month convened an extraordinary congress to elect the party presidential candidate , and to draw up the National Assembly list of the upcoming national elections . Kaaronda ' s faction on that day launched its election manifesto , some 200 kilometres away in Gobabis . The Electoral Commission of Namibia ( ECN ) will by 31 October announce the names of gazetted candidates - both individual candidates and the names of the parties that will participate in the November polls . Source: The Namibia News Agency