State House has dismissed claims that Jerry Ekandjo is discriminated against and that his attempts to contest the Vice President position are sabotaged by President Hage Geingob.

According to a media statement issued by the Presidency, it was the democratic processes in Swapo that denied Ekandjo the opportunity to ascend to the party's top leadership positions on multiple occasions.

The statement says, contrary to claims that President Geingob is working actively towards excluding Ekandjo, the truth is that the Head of State has come to his rescue.

In 2015, the statement says, Ekandjo was included in Geingob's list of eight non-voting members of Parliament.

The claims were made by former Prime Minister and Swapo member, Nahas Angula, in a local daily article published on Friday.

Ekandjo, the Presidency says, has been serving in the National Assembly for the past eight years, not because he was popularly elected at the Swapo Party Electoral College but because Geingob appointed him.

In 2017, while in Parliament on the President's ticket, Ekandjo used his democratic right and stood against Geingob for the position of party president.

After the 2017 Congress, where he triumphed, the President extended an olive branch to Ekandjo in the hope that they could work together.

However, it says it was clear that he was not willing to serve the party and government under President Geingob's leadership.

Therefore, the presidency says, Geingob used his presidential discretion and released Ekandjo from the Cabinet.

The statement continues that it is wrong to blame President Geingob for Ekandjo's latest political misfortunes, saying it is the people's democracy within the Swapo Party that has denied him a place in the final group of candidates to run for the Party's Vice Presidency at the November congress.

The Swapo Party Central Committee is due to meet on Friday to discuss Ekandjo's matter, who has since made it clear that he'll continue to exercise his rights to campaign.

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Blanche Goreses