Namibia will have its first female leader after the VP won the ruling party’s presidential election

WINDHOEK, Namibia (AP) — Namibia elected its first female leader, with Vice President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah declaring victory in last week’s presidential election as the long-time ruling party continued to rule.

Nandi-Ndaitwah, 72, won with 57% of the vote, according to official results, defying predictions that he might be forced to run. His ruling SWAPO party has been in power for 34 years since independence from apartheid in South Africa in 1990.

Opposition parties rejected the results after last Wednesday’s election was marred by technical problems including a shortage of ballot papers and other issues that prompted election officials to extend the voting period until Saturday. Opposition parties say the expansion was illegal and will challenge the results in court.

SWAPO also retained its majority in the parliamentary vote and avoided the fate of the long-ruling parties in neighboring South Africa and Botswana which have lost majorities this year as the revolution takes hold in the southern African region.

Nandi-Ndaitwah was a member of the underground liberation movement in Namibia in the 1970s. He was promoted to the position of vice president in February after the death of President Hage Geingob while in power and will become the fifth president of Namibia after independence.

“SWAPO is Winning. Netumbo Wins. Namibia Wins. Now Work Hard,” the ruling party wrote on its official account on social media site X.

Some opposition parties boycotted the announcement of the results by the Electoral Commission of Namibia, which is investigating the conduct of the polls. Opposition parties say many Namibians were not given the chance to vote because of technical problems.

Panduleni Itula of the opposition party Independent Patriots for Change came second in the presidential election with 25% of the votes and his party got the second largest number of seats in Parliament after SWAPO.

Independent Patriots for Change led the criticism of the vote and pledged to challenge it in court, calling the three-day extension of the vote unconstitutional.

Namibia is a large country on the southwest coast of Africa that is more than twice the size of Germany but has only three million people, making it one of the least populated countries in the world. It has a reputation for being one of Africa’s most stable democracies.

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