Knowledge Ipinge, who returned to the ruling party in September this year, said he never left the party, nor was he expelled.

He explained that, as a result, he remained a member of Swapo.

Ipinge is the former councillor of Walvis Bay Urban after defeating long-established political entities, including the Swapo Party.

He explained that just because he stood as an independent candidate in 2020 did not mean that he was no longer a member of Swapo, as he merely capitalised on the party's constitutional loopholes.

According to the Swapo Party's constitution, a membership may be lost through resignation or expulsion, but in his case, none was actioned. 

"It goes down to the constitution of the Swapo Party; what are the procedures for actually joining and leaving the party? Of which, what you are saying is that that is a social media stunt that we actually initiated, and there was never a formal resignation letter that went to the party. And you should understand that at the time that I ran as an independent candidate, it was a time we had a whole independent candidate wave of which we were all Swapo members who then actually exploited the loophole within the party's constitution itself."
 
In contrast to what is being said that he joined the Affirmative Repositioning Movement, Ipinge explained that AR was not a registered political party at the time. 
 
"I have been part of the Swapo Party and have never been part of any other political party. And besides the fact that I have always been taking part in protests under the Affirmative Repositioning Movement, which at the time was definitely focused on activism activities, I have relinquished that position."
 
Ipinge said he abandoned AR's allegiance before it was registered as a political party.

He, however, indicated that he is not looking for a political position but rather to support the party in terms of campaigning.
 
"My return to the Swapo party is informed by the shift also within the party itself, which definitely comes down to the Central Committee of the party, which has changed the politburo, as well as also the parliamentary list currently that we have seen coming out. And that then is definitely backed by the party manifesto, the leadership philosophy of the party presidential candidate."