The National Democratic Party (NDP) is a

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...

Namibia Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...

. It was formed in 1973 as the ''Ovamboland Independence Party'' (''OIP'') by

Silas Ipumbu Silas or Silvanus (; Greek: Σίλας/Σιλουανός; fl. 1st century AD) was a leading member of the Early Christian community, who according to the New Testament accompanied Paul the Apostle on his second missionary journey. Name and e ...

. It took the name NDP to contest the elections to the

Ovambo Legislative Assembly Ovambo may refer to: * Ovambo language, Bantu language of Namibia **Ovambo people, Bantu people of Namibia *Ovamboland Ovamboland, also referred to as Owamboland, was a Bantustan and later a non-geographic ethnic-based second-tier authority, ...

, by then under the leadership of Cornelius Tuhafeni Ndjoba. The party's base was amongst the

Ovambo people The Ovambo people (), also called Aawambo, Ambo, Aawambo (Ndonga, Nghandjera, Kwambi, Kwaluudhi, Kolonghadhi, Mbalantu, mbadja), or Ovawambo (Kwanyama), are a Bantu peoples, Bantu ethnic group native to Southern Africa, primarily modern Namibia. ...

. The party is currently under the leadership of Mr. Martin Lukato . NDP won one seat in the National Assembly, sending Lukato to parliament, in the National Assembly election of 2024. After being dormant for three decades the NDP contested in the 2015 local authority elections in the

Zambezi Region The Zambezi Region, known as the Caprivi Region until 2013, is one of Namibia's fourteen regions, situated in the north-eastern part of the country along the Zambezi River. The region's capital is Katima Mulilo. The Katima Mulilo Airport is ...

but failed to gain a seat. In 2019 it contested the national assembly election and gathered 4,559 votes (0.6%), not enough to gain a seat in

parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

. It also competed in the

2024 Namibian General Election General elections were held in Namibia to elect a new president and members of the National Assembly. Initially scheduled on 27 November 2024, these were later extended in some areas to 30 November due to poor planning. Opposition parties decri ...

and received 6,647 votes (0.61%), which gained the party one seat.

References

1973 establishments in South West Africa Ovambo Political parties established in 1973 Political parties in Namibia {{Namibia-party-stub