Namibia’s electoral commission declared governing party candidate Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah the nation’s first female president Tuesday, though opposition parties boycotted the announcement amid claims of widespread voting irregularities.
Nandi-Ndaitwah, representing the South West Africa People’s Organisation (SWAPO), secured more than 57% of the vote, with closest challenger Panduleni Itula of the Independent Patriots for Change (IPC) receiving 26%. The victory maintains SWAPO’s unbroken hold on power since independence in 1990, though with a significantly reduced majority.
“The Namibian nation has voted for peace and stability,” Nandi-Ndaitwah declared following the announcement. Her election marks a historic milestone as she joins Tanzania’s Samia Suluhu Hassan as Africa’s only current female presidents.
The election was marred by logistical problems that forced a three-day extension of polling in some areas. Opposition leader Itula, a dentist who had previously dented SWAPO’s support in 2019, called the process “deeply flawed.” The IPC announced plans to challenge the results in court, citing voter disenfranchisement due to ballot shortages and scanner failures.
“The Electoral Commission of Namibia had four years to fix things,” IPC representative Claus Goldbeck told the BBC, describing the voting as an “organizational mess.” Electoral Commission chairperson Elsie Nghikembua acknowledged organizational failures but denied fraud allegations.
In parliamentary elections, SWAPO retained a slim majority with 51 of 96 seats, losing 12 positions while the IPC secured 20 seats to become the official opposition. The results reflect SWAPO’s declining popularity, following similar trends among other liberation parties in southern Africa.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa congratulated Nandi-Ndaitwah, noting on social media that her election as “the first woman in our region to hold this high office is a testament to democracy and its ability to transform our societies.”
