Ben Ulenga

[[File:Ben_Ulenga_profile.jpeg|thumb|alt=This person.]] '''Ben Ulenga''' (born '''Benjamin Crispus Ulenga''' on 22 June 1952<ref name=CV>[http://www.parliament.gov.na/ims/pub/biodatadetail.asp?e=66&i=107 Profile of Ulenga on Namibian Parliament website]{{dead link|date=October 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}.</ref>) is a [[Namibia]]n trade unionist, politician, and diplomat. In the 1990s, he served under the [[SWAPO]] government as a deputy minister and as an ambassador, but he left SWAPO in 1998 and founded an opposition party, the [[Congress of Democrats]] (CoD), in 1999. He was a member of the [[National Assembly of Namibia]] from 2000 to 2015 and led the CoD until 2015.

==Life and career== Ulenga, born in [[Ontanga]], [[Oshana Region]],<ref name=CV/> played an influential role in the independence struggle of Namibia against [[South Africa]]n [[apartheid]] rule.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.observer.com.na/index.php/national/item/5289-ulenga-set-for-shock-swapo-return|title=Ulenga set for shock Swapo return - Windhoek Observer|last=Angula|first=Sonja|access-date=2018-01-02|language=en-gb|archive-date=3 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180103072700/http://www.observer.com.na/index.php/national/item/5289-ulenga-set-for-shock-swapo-return|url-status=dead}}</ref> He joined the [[People's Liberation Army of Namibia]] in 1974 but was later captured after being wounded in combat and sentenced to 15 years in prison, which he spent on [[Robben Island]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.sahistory.org.za/people/benjamin-ulenga|title=Benjamin Ulenga|last=Nolundi|date=2015-09-18|work=South African History Online|access-date=2018-01-02}}</ref> He was released in 1985.<ref name=CV/> At that time he met [[Rosa Namises]]. They had two children together before separating in 1988.<ref name="Überblick">{{Cite journal | title=Namibia: Rosa Namises kämpft für Gerechtigkeit |last=von Wietersheim | first=Erika | journal=[[Der Überblick]] | issue=1 | year=2001 | page=85 | url=http://www.der-ueberblick.de/ueberblick.archiv/one.ueberblick.article/ueberblick0a8c.html?entry=page.200101.085}}</ref>

Ulenga founded the [[Mineworkers Union of Namibia]] in 1986.<ref>{{Cite news | title=NUNW: Proud history, uncertain future | newspaper=[[New Era (Namibia)|New Era]] | date=30 April 2019 | url=https://neweralive.na/posts/nunw-proud-history-uncertain-future}}</ref> Immediately prior to independence, he was a [[SWAPO]] member of the [[Constituent Assembly of Namibia|Constituent Assembly]], which was in place from November 1989 to March 1990.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20030820180107/http://www.parliament.gov.na/ims/pub/getindivs.asp?e=65&en=Constituent+Assembly+of+Namibia+November+1989+-+March+1990 List of members of the Constituent Assembly], parliament.gov.na.</ref> After independence, he was a SWAPO member of the [[National Assembly of Namibia|National Assembly]] from 1990 to 1996, and he was deputy [[Ministry of Environment and Tourism (Namibia)|Minister of Wildlife, Conservation and Tourism]] from 1991 to 1995 before becoming deputy [[Ministry of Urban and Rural Development (Namibia)|Minister of Regional and Local Government and Housing]] in 1995.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.nid.org.na/images/pdf/democracy/Spot_the_Difference_web.pdf|title=Spot the difference: Congress of Democrats|website=www.nid.org.na/}}</ref> He was later appointed as Namibia's High Commissioner to the [[United Kingdom]], but in August 1998 he resigned from that post to protest plans to amend the constitution so that president [[Sam Nujoma]] could run for a third term; in addition, he expressed dissatisfaction with Namibia's military presence in the [[Democratic Republic of the Congo]] during that country's [[Second Congo War|civil war]]. He initially said that he would remain a member of SWAPO,<ref>"Namibia: Official quits over proposed Nujoma third term, country's role in Congo", SAPA news agency, 28 August 1998.</ref> but he subsequently left SWAPO and founded the opposition [[Congress of Democrats]] (CoD) in March 1999. He was the CoD candidate in the [[1999 Namibian presidential election|1999 presidential election]], placing second behind Nujoma and receiving 10.5% of the vote.<ref>''Political Parties of the World'' (6th edition, 2005), ed. Bogdan Szajkowski, page 428.</ref> He was also elected to the National Assembly as a CoD candidate in the [[1999 Namibian parliamentary election|1999 parliamentary election]].<ref>[http://www.parliament.gov.na/ims/pub/getindivs.asp?e=59&en=3rd List of members of the National Assembly elected in 1999]{{dead link|date=October 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}.</ref>

At a CoD congress, Ulenga was re-elected as president of the CoD on 1 August 2004; he was also chosen as the party's candidate for the [[2004 Namibian presidential election|November 2004 presidential election]].<ref>"Namibia's Congress of Democrats elects its 2004 presidential poll flagbearer", Nampa, 2 August 2004.</ref> In this election, he placed second with 7.28% of the vote, far behind SWAPO candidate [[Hifikepunye Pohamba]].<ref>"Election update 2004, Namibia", EISA report, number 3, 10 December 2004, page 9. {{cite web |url=http://www.eisa.org.za/PDF/eu200403nam.pdf |title=Archived copy |accessdate=2008-08-21 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20081203142841/http://www.eisa.org.za/PDF/eu200403nam.pdf |archivedate=3 December 2008 }}</ref> In the [[2004 Namibian parliamentary election|concurrent 2004 parliamentary election]], he was re-elected to the National Assembly.<ref>[http://www.parliament.gov.na/ims/pub/getindivs.asp?e=66&en=4th List of members of the National Assembly elected in 2004]{{dead link|date=December 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}.</ref>

At an extraordinary party congress held in [[Keetmanshoop]] in May 2008,<ref name=Brig>{{cite web | first=Brigitte | last=Weidlich | url=http://www.namibian.com.na/2007/December/national/07D79EE73D.html | title=CoD's Ben Ulenga to sue 'rebel' MPs | newspaper=The Namibian | date=21 December 2007}}{{dead link|date=July 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref name=Kuvee>{{cite web | first=Kuvee | last=Kangueehi | url=http://allafrica.com/stories/200807211023.html | title=Ulenga accepts court ruling | work=New Era | date=21 July 2008}}</ref> Ulenga was re-elected as CoD president; he defeated [[Ignatius Shixwameni]] by 14 votes, and Shixwameni, rejecting the outcome, left the congress in protest along with about half of the delegates. Shixwameni alleged rigging and claimed that his CoD faction represented the majority of the party; his faction went to the High Court to press these claims.<ref name=Brig/> In July 2008, the High Court ruled in favor of the Shixwameni faction, nullifying the May 2007 congress. Ulenga accepted the decision.<ref name=Kuvee/>

In the [[2009 Namibian general election|2009 general election]], Ulenga's support dropped significantly and he received 5,812 votes (0.72%), which placed him in 9th place out of 12 candidates for president. This represented more than 50,000 fewer votes than he had received when he finished second to Pohamba in the 2004 campaign. Similarly, the CoD lost four of five members of the National Assembly. Ulenga, however, was re-elected.<ref>"Politics-Namibia: SWAPO wins", Inter Press Service, 6 December 2009. {{cite web |url=http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=49556 |title=POLITICS-NAMIBIA: SWAPO Wins - IPS ipsnews.net |accessdate=2009-12-06 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20091206201710/http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=49556 |archivedate=6 December 2009 }}</ref> Things got even worse for the CoD in the 2014 Presidential and National Assembly election where the party failed to win a single seat. The defeat was followed by Ulenga’s resignation as party president in 2015. In 2017 Ulenga rejoined SWAPO, 18 years after he had left the party.<ref>{{cite news | title=Ben Ulenga: Why I rejoined Swapo | newspaper=The Patriot | date=11 August 2017 | url=http://thepatriot.com.na/index.php/2017/08/11/ben-ulenga-why-i-rejoined-swapo/ | access-date=13 August 2017 | archive-date=13 August 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170813110236/http://thepatriot.com.na/index.php/2017/08/11/ben-ulenga-why-i-rejoined-swapo/ | url-status=dead }}</ref>

==References== {{reflist}}

== External links ==

* [https://nai.uu.se/library/resources/liberation-africa/interviews/ben-ulenga.html Interview with Ben Ulenga by Tor Sellström within the project Nordic Documentation on the Liberation Struggle in Southern Africa] – dated 16 March 1995.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ulenga, Ben}} [[Category:1952 births]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:Politicians from Oshana Region]] [[Category:Ovambo people]] [[Category:SWAPO politicians]] [[Category:Congress of Democrats politicians]] [[Category:Members of the 1st National Assembly of Namibia]] [[Category:Members of the 2nd National Assembly of Namibia]] [[Category:Members of the 3rd National Assembly of Namibia]] [[Category:Members of the 4th National Assembly of Namibia]] [[Category:Members of the 5th National Assembly of Namibia]] [[Category:Candidates for President of Namibia]] [[Category:High commissioners of Namibia to the United Kingdom]] [[Category:Namibian trade unionists]] [[Category:South West African anti-apartheid activists]] [[Category:Inmates of Robben Island]] [[Category:People's Liberation Army of Namibia personnel]]