I am not a buffoon. I am a lawyer – Muharukua 

By Kaipaherue Kandjii

Vipuakuje Muharukua, an ex-lawmaker on the ticket of the official opposition, the PDM, has dispelled the myth that he joined the ruling Swapo Party after being promised a .

Muharukua says rumours that his ambitions were set on a job in the next administration are far from fact, saying he is only a “rational thinking person” who merely acted on his right to freedom of association, as enshrined in law.

The lawyer-cum-politician says he left PDM after a profound period of soul-searching to find a new political haven where his ideas could flourish.

In a wide-ranging interview on Sunday with this publication, Muharukua denied being promised any job, although he maintains that he will accept any noble offer if asked. 

“Should I say I am flattered? I do not know if I should say I am flattered. It’s very peculiar that the only thing people would talk about [in me joining Swapo] is the promise of a position. Some of us are better than that, I can guarantee you. I am not a leader who would go and negotiate for my benefits. I negotiate for the people. In my party, Swapo, I will negotiate for the people. The only thing I can do is say it; if results come, people will see it. But if it is so incumbent, it is thought that after the requisite periods, the Swapo Party deems it, in whatever way, [they say] Muharukua come and lead our regional office or come and sweep, or whatever the case may be, I will be happy to do anything as long as it advances the cause of Namibians. There is no conversation at any level with me about that [ministerial or ambassadorial] promise of a job,” he claimed.

Muharukua hails from the Kunene region, where PDM has had an iron grip on power for decades. He says he feels no sense of betrayal despite the harrowing grief among the stubborn loyalists.

Currently, Swapo leads one of the seven constituencies in Kunene: Outjo. PDM and the United Democratic Front (UDF) share the remainder. PDM controls Opuwo Urban, Opuwo Rural and Epupa constituencies, while UDF controls Khorixas, Kamanjab and Sesfontein. 

At the regional councils’ polls in 2020, Swapo’s popularity in Kunene waned. As a result, it lost Opuwo Urban, Sesfontein, and Kamanjab. “Betrayal to whom? To whom specifically? To which region? Swapo is a party of the Namibian people. This region is part of the Namibian people. Not only is it part of it, but you have many citizens of this region who are [members of Swapo]. There is no big margin, even if you look at the margins between PDM, which is predominantly the party. So, betrayal to who? My joining my party, Swapo, was a reasonable decision after a process. After thinking and contemplating for about 16 months, that’s almost a year and a half. So, it’s a decision I have taken, keeping in mind who the best candidate to support in the election is. If you put all the candidates in this country together, [Swapo’s presidential candidate] Mee Netumbo [Nandi-Ndaitwah] is no match to any of them,” said Muharukua.

When quizzed if he was flirting with Swapo as a PDM parliamentarian, Muharukua hastened to say, “I was fighting certain policies.”

“I was flirting with Swapo? No! 16 months of contemplation are not 16 months of action. It’s 16 months of internal strife—speaking to myself, convincing myself, introspecting myself, and seeing whether what I am seeing and feeling is either wrong or right. It’s been 16 months of consulting relevant people. You know it doesn’t start with Swapo, right? It starts with a question: am I in the right place? Am I at a party? You look at the internal mechanics of that party and the outward look of that party. The outward actions of that party. So, it first comes with the conviction to say I am in the wrong place. I need to go. So I arrived at the decision,” he stressed.

Before throwing in the towel, he says, he still gave PDM the benefit of the doubt that perhaps some of these concerns could be “fixed”; however, things became “insane,”  prompting him to abandon his political ship.

Muharukua did not explicitly state his “concerns” for dumping PDM despite a purported fallout with its leader, McHenry Venaani, whom he sought to succeed after a ten-year stint.  Venaani is seeking a new term to run PDM for 15 years. He says that one of the decisions he sought to pursue after politics was to turn to his legal profession full-time.

“I do not know why people don’t want to accept this, but I am a lawyer. So my decision is that I will continue as [a] lawyer,” he maintained. Muharukua, albeit perplexed by the reaction from people to joining Swapo, says he understands that people are “disappointed” in his decision to ditch PDM. As a member of Swapo, he says it’s not all rosy, but there are policies he vehemently disagrees with, which, in his opinion, he will seek to redress by bringing them to the fore. “We must not fool ourselves.  Swapo commands a two-thirds majority of the eligible voters in this country. 

In parliament, Swapo is one seat shy of a two-thirds majority. A two-thirds majority, which it will get back now. So, when discussing disappointment, why do you think of disappointment in the context of the Kunene region? I am from [the] Kunene [region], and I am proud to be from [the] Kunene [region], but I do not identify as a leader or a politician from [the] Kunene [region]. I am a Namibian leader,” he indicated.

Muharukua says many Namibians are happy with his decision to join Swapo.

“Perhaps not two-thirds [of people], but at the very least, perhaps 60 per cent, I hope. [The people are saying] welcome Muharukua; the rules are that you stay [for] 10 or 50 years; don’t join leadership or whatever; those are non-starters,” he emphasized.

Swapo, he claims, is best suited to be trusted with Namibia’s resources and to, amongst others, jealously guard its interests and people. Muharukua says this appeared to be a farfetched premise in the PDM.

“As we stand here, you and I know that this country is better off in the hands of Swapo. Any rational-thinking person knows that. It is only correct and healthy for our democracy if we have a fair contestation, and after that fair contestation, we have an outcome that produces the best candidate. I left PDM because, then and now, PDM was not the best to lead the country. And now, I say, Swapo is the best to lead the country,” he stressed.

Muharukua says people are trying to redirect their hatred of Swapo against him.

“You know, I am not a buffoon. I am a lawyer and a farmer. I am a rational person. It should be accepted that this person has made his decision after a thought process. People want to translate their hatred of Swapo to me. I never hated Swapo as an entity. I disagreed with policies, some of which I’m afraid I have to disagree with today, but, in those disagreements, I will deal with those things like any other responsible person,” he said.