The CoD top leadership


Ben Ulenga (President)

BEN Ulenga was born on June 22, 1952 at Ontanga in the Omusati Region. He schooled at the Oshigambo High School and thereafter worked as a government clerk from 1973 to 1974. He left for Angola where he underwent a year of military training (1974-75) as a People’s Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN) combatant, the Swapo armed wing. Ulenga was captured in battle inside Namibia and imprisoned on Robben Island for nine years. Upon his release in 1985, he became the general secretary of the Mineworkers Union of Namibia (MUN) and also served as a Member of the Constituent Assembly (1989-90).

In 1991, Ulenga became the Deputy Minister of Wildlife, Conservation and Tourism, a position he held for five years. He moved to the Ministry of Regional and Local Government and Housing for another five-year term as a deputy minister. He was thereafter appointed High Commissioner to the United Kingdom for two years before quitting and forming the Congress of Democrats (CoD). Since the formation of the party, Ulenga has been the President and he is standing for presidency in the upcoming Presidential and National Assembly elections.

Alinda Chilinda (Vice President)

Alinda Chilinda was born on April 16, 1948 at Kanono village in the Caprivi Region. He started school at Kanono Primary School and did his secondary education at Saint Kizito College. He completed school in 1970 and he taught at Kasheshe Primary School from 1971 to 1974.

He left for South Africa for tertiary education in Kwazulu-Natal at the Cwaka Agriculture College. He finished his diploma at the same time he was studying for a certificate in religious studies with the Seventh Day Adventist Church. He qualified with a diploma in religion.

In 1976, he returned home (Katima Mulilo) and was employed as an Inspector for Animal Disease Control, a post he held from 1976 to 1979. He was promoted to a Senior Stock Inspector. In 1984, he climbed the ladder to Principle Stock Inspector until 1989. In 1990, he was promoted to Chief Animal Health Inspector, a post he held until retirement in 2008.

Chilinda got involved in politics at a young age in 1964. As a youth, he crossed with others joining (Caprivi African National Union) CANU members in Zambia after the colonial authorities sought to arrest him in 1965.

His parents brought him back for school and was prohibited from taking part in politics and concentrated on education. But the desire to become a politician was still in him. He became more involved in 1974 in South Africa where he was somehow “activated” by members of Inkatha Freedom Party in Zululand, the Kwazulu-Natal province today. He linked with members of the prohibited African National Congress (ANC) with whom he shared information. He witnessed the Soweto students’ uprising in 1976. That fuelled his desire and inspiration to one day see an independent and free country. At the time, he was a Swapo Party member.

He quit the Swapo Party in 1995. Between 1995 and 1996 he joined the Democratic Turnhalle Alliance (DTA). In 1999, he joined the Congress of Democrats (CoD).

Tsudao Gurirab (Secretary General)

Tsudao Gurirab was born on January 2, 1960, at Usakos in the Erongo Region. Gurirab has a diploma in Management and Development Studies from the UN Institute for Namibia, Lusaka, Zambia. He also has a Masters in Public Policy and Administration from The Hague, Netherlands, through the University of Namibia.

He studied at the University of Sussex in 1984 where he pursued a BA (Hons) in Economics and later proceeded to the University of Manchester in for his Masters in Development Studies.

Gurirab became a researcher for the Swapo Party’s Department of Economic Affairs in Luanda, Angola (1987-89). During 1989, he joined the editorial staff of Swapo Party’s newspaper Namibia Today while serving at the same time as a member of the party’s elections directorate. Upon independence in 1990, he was appointed Permanent Secretary of Trade and Industry for five years. In 1995 to 1998 he worked as an Executive Director for Premier Economists.

Arnold Losper (National Chairperson)

Arnold Losper was born in Keetmanshoop on March 31, 1966. He did his senior secondary school at Suiderlig in the same town. He worked for Nature Conservation in the Ministry of Environment and Tourism as a Game Ranger from 1986 to 2005. He spent the last four years in that ministry training others in the field. He is a professional hunter who has for years put to test the hunting skills of private farmers in different parts of the country.

He joined the Congress of Democrats (CoD) since its inception and currently serves as a councillor in the Karas Region.

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