Gurirab joined the SWAPO Department of Economic Affairs as a researcher in
Luanda,
Angola from 1987 to 1988. Following the end of the
Namibian War of Independence, Gurirab worked on the editorial board of the SWAPO newspaper
Namibia Today as well as on the party's election team in 1989. From independence in 1990 until 1995, the Usakos native was the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Trade and Industry when
Ben Amathila was Minister. He left politics in 1995 and worked as a private economist. Gurirab joined some prominent SWAPO figures and joined CoD in 1999. In the
1999 election, the new party earned 7 out of 72 seats, tying it with the
Democratic Turnhalle Alliance (DTA) for second most seats in the
National Assembly of Namibia and a seat for Gurirab. Gurirab maintained that seat in the 2004 election as number three on CoD's electoral list for the Assembly, despite a net loss of two seats for CoD. Gurirab was not re-elected in the
2009 general election, as only CoD leader
Ben Ulenga was re-elected. ==Business==