Namibia elects its first female president in contested elections

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Namibia elects its first female president in contested elections

Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, of the ruling party South West Africa People's Organization (Swapo), was voted as the first female president of Namibia after last week's election.

The Electoral Commission said he won more than 57% of the votes, while his closest rival, Panduleni Itula, got 26%.

But following operational problems and the three-day extension of voting in some parts of the country, Itula said on Saturday that his party will not respect the results that question the fairness of the election.

Because of this, most of the opposition parties boycotted the announcement of the results on Tuesday evening in the capital, Windhoek, The Namibian newspaper reported.

“The Namibian nation has voted for peace and stability,” Reuters news agency quoted Nandi-Ndaitwah as saying after the result was announced.

Swapo has ruled the large but sparsely populated southern African country since the country gained independence in 1990.

The leader of the party, Nandi-Ndaitwah, who is currently the vice president, is a trusted leader who has served in the highest office of government for a quarter of a century.

Once he is sworn in, he will join a special group as currently Samia Suluhu Hassan from Tanzania is the only female president in Africa.

A qualified dentist, Itula, of the Independent Patriots for Change (IPC), is seen as more charismatic than Nandi-Ndaitwah and managed to dampen Swapo's popularity in the last 2019 presidential election, reducing its vote share to 56% from 87% five. years ago.

The IPC said it will “proceed justice in the courts” and has encouraged people who felt they were unable to vote due to mismanagement by the electoral commission to go to the police and make a statement.

Swapo led the nationalist struggle against apartheid South Africa. Before last Wednesday's election, there were suspicions that it would face the brunt of other groups fighting for freedom in the region.

South Africa's African National Congress lost its majority in parliament in May and the Botswana Democratic Party was kicked out of power after nearly six decades following the October elections.