Namibia elects first woman President, aged 72

Namibia’s Vice-President, Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah has been elected as the first female president in the southern African nation.

Nandi-Ndaitwah’s ruling SWAPO Party was on Tuesday declared winner of last week’s disputed elections which the opposition has vowed not to recognise.

The electoral umpire, Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) said Nandi-Ndaitwah clinched 57 percent of votes followed by Panduleni Itula, the candidate for the main opposition Independent Patriots for Change (IPC), who got 25.5 percent.

The SWAPO Party has been in power since the sparsely populated nation gained independence from apartheid South Africa in 1990.

Local reports said most opposition parties boycotted the results announcement in the capital Windhoek.

The 72-year-old VP won an election marred by logistical and technical problems and a three-day extension of polling in some parts of the country.

Her main challenger, 67-year-old Itula condemned the election’s outcome and promised to challenge it in court.

“IPC shall not recognise the outcome of that election”, he said on Saturday, the last day of the extended vote.

He added that the party would “fight… to nullify the elections through the processes that are established within our electoral process.”

In her acceptance speech, Nandi-Ndaitwah said, “The Namibian nation has voted for peace and stability.”

South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa has congratulated the Namibian president-elect on her victory.

“On behalf of the government and people of South Africa, I offer my warm congratulations to President-Elect Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah of our sister country and neighbour, the Republic of Namibia.

“Congratulations to you personally, my sister, and to the South West Africa People’s Organisation which has benefited greatly from your leadership as Vice-President of the organisation.

“I look forward to us deepening our relationship with Namibia and ensuring that the people of our two nations will come to greater understanding and appreciation of our shared history and our shared future,” Ramaphosa said in a statement shared on X.

AFP