{{Short description|Namibian politician}} {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2024}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Henry Ferdinand Mudge | image = Henry Ferdinand Mudge.png | office = Member of the National Assembly of Namibia | term_start = November 2014 | term_start1 = 21 March 2004 | term_end1 = 16 March 2011 | office2 = President of the Republican Party | term_start2 = July 2014 | term_end3 = 16 March 2011 | term_start3 = 2003 | succeeded3 = | succeeding3 = | party = Republican Party | other_party = | parents = Dirk Mudge (father) | birth_date = {{birth date and age text|18 February 1952}} }}
'''Henry Ferdinand "Henk" Mudge''' (born 18 February 1952) is a Namibian politician and President of the Republican Party.<ref name=CV>[http://www.parliament.gov.na/ims/pub/biodatadetail.asp?e=66&i=452 CV at Parliament website]{{dead link|date=November 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}.</ref> He was the party's only member of the National Assembly of Namibia from 2004 to 2011, when he resigned.
==Life and career== Mudge, a White Namibian, was born in Otjiwarongo, Otjozondjupa South West Africa (now Namibia);<ref name=CV/> he was the son of Republican Party founder the late Dirk Mudge.<ref>Christof Maletsky, [http://www.namibian.com.na/2003/july/national/03E8606CFD.html "RP plans comeback to politics"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041230234301/http://www.namibian.com.na/2003/july/national/03E8606CFD.html |date=30 December 2004 }}, ''The Namibian'', 4 August 2003.</ref> The younger Mudge was a founding member of the Republican Party in 1977;<ref name=CV/> the party joined the Democratic Turnhalle Alliance (DTA) in the same year,<ref name=Threat>Petros Kuteeue, [http://www.namibian.com.na/2003/august/national/03EE91D459.html "DTA threatens to take Henk Mudge to court"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050210124720/http://www.namibian.com.na/2003/august/national/03EE91D459.html |date=10 February 2005 }}, ''The Namibian'', 21 August 2003.</ref> and Mudge held a seat on the Khomas Regional Council from 1992 to 2003<ref name=CV/> as a member of the DTA, representing Windhoek West Constituency. Mid of 2003 Mudge launched an effort to revive the Republican Party as an independent organization, and he resigned from the Regional Council on 30 June 2003. DTA President Katuutire Kaura denounced Mudge's move to separate the Republican Party from the DTA, saying that Mudge acted unilaterally and illegally, and he said that Mudge had "expelled himself" from the DTA through his actions. Kaura claimed that Mudge wanted to create a party solely for "previously advantaged" minority Namibians.<ref name=Threat/> Mudge became the President of the Republican Party, as well as a member of its National Executive Committee, in 2003.<ref name=CV/>
In the November 2004 parliamentary election, he was elected to the National Assembly of Namibia;<ref name=CV/> he also stood as the Republican Party's candidate in the presidential election, receiving 1.95% of the vote.<ref>[http://www.eisa.org.za/PDF/eu200403nam.pdf "Election update 2004, Namibia"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081203142841/http://www.eisa.org.za/PDF/eu200403nam.pdf |date=3 December 2008 }}, EISA report, number 3, 10 December 2004, page 9.</ref>
In the summer of 2008, Henk Mudge sharply criticized the activities of the CEO of the national airline Air Namibia, Cosmas Egumbo. In response, Egumbo accused Mudge of racism and pursuing selfish family goals. Henk Mudge responded with a special statement. In his speeches, Henk Mudge condemns the apartheid system and acknowledges that white Namibians enjoyed privileges at the expense of their black fellow citizens. At the same time, he calls on whites to be politically active in modern Namibia, using Republican Party activists as an example. He sharply criticizes the ruling SWAPO for its corruption and pro-Chinese policies.<ref>{{Cite web |date=19 June 2008 |title=Henk Mudge replies to statement by Air Namibia's Egumbo |url=https://www.republikein.com.na/nuus/henk-mudge-replies-to-statement-by-air-namibias-egumbo-/ |access-date=27 November 2024 |website=www.republikein.com |language=en}}</ref>
In the November 2009 parliamentary election, Mudge was re-elected to the National Assembly as the party's only representative. In the concurrent presidential election, Mudge received 1.16% of the vote, placing seventh out of 12 candidates. In September 2010, Mudge and eight other opposition politicians were sworn-in as members of the National Assembly following a six-month boycott due to electoral irregularities in the 2009 election.<ref>Henry van Rooi, [http://www.namibian.com.na/news/full-story/archive/2010/september/article/full-house/ "Full house"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120331214430/http://www.namibian.com.na/news/full-story/archive/2010/september/article/full-house/ |date=31 March 2012 }}, ''The Namibian'', 15 September 2010.</ref>
In March 2011, Mudge resigned as both a member of the National Assembly and as the President of the Republican Party. The party appointed Clara Gowases, who was ranked second on the party's electoral list in the 2009 election, to replace him.<ref>{{usurped|1=[https://archive.today/20120909170005/http://www.newera.com.na/article.php?articleid=37856&title=Mudge%20resigns%20as%20RP%20leader "Mudge resigns as RP leader"]}} ''New Era'', 16 March 2011.</ref> He nevertheless remained in the post of party president. On 9 January 2013 Mudge declared his party's support for Hage Geingob in the 2014 presidential election.<ref>Catherine Sasman, [http://www.namibian.com.na/index.php?id=104076&page=archive-read "'Geingob can do it' - Mudge"], ''The Namibian'', 10 January 2013.</ref> Mudge was re-elected as President of the Republican Party at a party congress in July 2014.<ref>Mathias Haufiku, {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20151125102720/https://www.newera.com.na/2014/07/14/rp-congress-re-elects-mudge/ "RP congress re-elects Mudge"]}}, ''New Era'', 14 July 2014.</ref> He was elected to the National Assembly in the November 2014 parliamentary election, again as his party's only representative.<ref>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20150729091837/https://www.newera.com.na/2014/12/02/so-parliament/ "So, who is going to parliament?"]}}, ''New Era'', 2 December 2014.</ref>
He ran as a presidential candidate in the 2024 Namibian general election.<ref>{{Cite web |date=20 November 2024 |title=Main candidates in Namibia's presidential election |url=https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2024/main-candidates-in-namibias-presidential-election/ |access-date=22 November 2024 |website=www.cnbcafrica.com |language=en}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist|30em}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mudge, Henk}} Category:1952 births Category:Living people Category:People from Otjiwarongo Category:Politicians from Otjozondjupa Region Category:Popular Democratic Movement politicians Category:Members of the National Assembly (Namibia) Category:Namibian people of South African descent Category:White Namibian people Category:Republican Party (Namibia) politicians Category:Candidates for President of Namibia