This Tuesday marked Namibia’s first female leadership election; it was announced that the SWAPO ruling party’s candidate and Vice President, Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, was declared the winner on Tuesday over last week’s presidential polls.
With Nandi-Ndaitwah, 72, now president-elect, the South West Africa People’s Organization (SWAPO) has expanded its long-held rule in this southern African nation.
She received 57.31 percent of the votes, defeating 14 other candidates and exceeding the required threshold of 50 percent, thus, no runoff is needed.
“In accordance with Section 109 of the Electoral Act…I, Elsie Nghikembua, chairperson of the Electoral Commission of Namibia, do declare Her Excellency Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah of the SWAPO party as the winner and president-elect of the 2024 presidential elections,” said Nghikembua at the declaration of the poll results. This was proclaimed in the capital city of Windhoek.
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Nandi-Ndaitwah will be the fifth head of state in Namibia and the fourth female leader in Africa after Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia (2006-2018), Joyce Banda of Malawi (2012-2014), and current president of Tanzania, Samia Suluhu Hassan.
She had been SWAPO’s vice president under President Hage Geingob, who passed away in February 2024 and to the immediate past President Nangolo Mbumba, who continued in an interim position following Geingob’s death.