SWAPO steamroller

Peaceful elections are followed by worries about overspill from the Angola war

Nobody expected President Sam Nujoma or his ruling South West African People's Organisation to lose the elections but SWAPO's victory was impressive. Putting down a marker was the new Congress of Democrats and its leader, Ben Ulenga (AC Vol 40 No 7), a former High Commissioner to Britain, trades unionist and SWAPO guerrilla fighter; the CoD overtook the DTA of Namibia (formerly Democratic Turnhalle Alliance) to become the official opposition. The first act of Nujoma's next five years in office was to affirm direct support for the Angolan government's drive against the União Nacional para a Independência Total de Angola.

Article Tags:
Sam Nujoma, Ben Ulenga, Britain, Angolan, South African, Nahas Angula, CoD rallies cancelled, Mishake Muyongo, Katuutire Kaura, Justus Garoeb, Moses Katjioungua, Hifikepunye Pohamba, Tsudao Gurirab, Ignatius Shixwameni, Russian, Hage Geingob, French, União Nacional para a Independência Total de Angola, The Namibian

end of preview

To read the rest of the article you need to either log in or do one of the following:

Subscribe to Africa Confidential Find out more
Purchase this article on its own Find out more

If you have a print subscription already please click here for full access to the website.
If you have already logged in and believe you should have access to this article please contact customer services.