First woman president crowned after peaceful poll
But the election was a bit of a shambles, critics say.
Kiri Rupiah
Namibia will have its first woman president after 72-year-old Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah got 57% of the vote, according to the electoral commission – but opposition parties are contesting the results in court.
While the vote was peaceful, the opposition argues it was managed at a level of incompetence that borders on deliberate suppression. Polling stations opened late. Ballots ran out. Queues ran long. The vote was extended by three days.
If the court appeals fail, Nandi-Ndaitwah will become the country’s fifth president next March. Every one of those presidents, including her, has come from the governing South West Africa People’s Organisation (Swapo), which took power in 1990 after Namibia got its independence from South Africa.
Nandi-Ndaitwah has been vice-president since the death in office of president Hage Geingob in February. Her predecessor as vice-president, Nangolo Mbumba, is serving as interim president.
She joined Swapo’s youth league in the early 1970s, and was thrown into the fight against the military occupation by apartheid South Africa. Since independence, she has served as minister in several portfolios, including as foreign minister.
She is no progressive. Hawkish and conservative, her focus will be delivering on her promise of creating 500,000 jobs in five years, veteran newspaper editor Gwen Lister told The Continent.
She also comes into office at a time when Namibia faces high rates of gender-based violence, spiralling corruption and public dissatisfaction with youth unemployment in particular.