Namibia will have its first female leader after the VP wins presidential election for ruling party

WINDHOEK, Namibia (AP) — Namibia has elected its first female leader, with Vice President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah declared the winner Tuesday of last week’s presidential election as the long-ruling party remained in power.

The 72-year-old Nandi-Ndaitwah won with 57% of the vote, according to official results, defying predictions that she might be forced into a runoff. Her ruling SWAPO party has had a 34-year hold on power since independence from apartheid South Africa in 1990.

Opposition parties have rejected the results after last Wednesday’s election was marred by technical problems, including shortages of ballot papers and other issues, causing election officials to extend voting until Saturday. The opposition parties say the extension was illegal and they will challenge the results in court.

SWAPO also retained its majority in the parliamentary vote and avoided the fate of long-ruling parties in neighboring South Africa and Botswana who lost their majorities this year as a mood of change swept across the southern African region.

Nandi-Ndaitwah was a member of the underground independence movement in Namibia in the 1970s. She was promoted to vice president in February after President Hage Geingob died while in office and will become the fifth president of Namibia after independence.

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

Some opposition parties boycotted the results announcement by the Electoral Commission of Namibia, which has come under scrutiny over the running of the vote. The opposition parties say many Namibians weren’t given the opportunity to vote because of the technical problems.

Panduleni Itula of the Independent Patriots for Change opposition party was second in the presidential election with 25% of the vote and his party won the second-largest number of seats in Parliament behind SWAPO.

The Independent Patriots for Change have led the criticism of the vote and pledged to lodge a challenge in court, calling the three-day extension for voting unconstitutional.

Namibia is a large country on Africa’s southwest coast that is more than twice the size of Germany but with just 3 million people, making it one of the most sparsely populated countries in the world. It has a reputation for being one of Africa’s more stable democracies.

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