Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah of the ruling South West Africa People’s Organisation (Swapo) has been elected as Namibia’s first female president following last week’s contentious election.
According to the electoral commission, she secured over 57% of the vote, while her closest competitor, Panduleni Itula, garnered 26%.
Itula criticized the electoral process, calling it “deeply flawed” after logistical challenges led to a three-day extension of polling in some areas. His Independent Patriots for Change (IPC) party has announced plans to contest the results in court.
Most opposition parties boycotted the results announcement held on Tuesday evening in the capital, Windhoek, according to The Namibian newspaper.
On Wednesday, Windhoek remained calm, with no visible celebrations or protests, and daily life continued as usual.
In her victory speech, Nandi-Ndaitwah stated, “The Namibian nation has voted for peace and stability.”
Swapo has governed the large but sparsely populated southern African nation since its independence in 1990.
A party veteran and current vice-president, Nandi-Ndaitwah has held senior government positions for over 25 years.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa congratulated Nandi-Ndaitwah on X (formerly Twitter) on Wednesday.
“Your election as fifth President of the Republic and the first woman in our region to hold this high office is a testament to democracy and its ability to transform our societies,” his statement read.
Once sworn in, Nandi-Ndaitwah will join an exclusive group, with Tanzania’s Samia Suluhu Hassan currently the only female president in Africa.
In parliamentary elections held simultaneously, Swapo retained a slim majority, securing 51 out of 96 elected seats—a decrease of 12. The Independent Patriots for Change (IPC) won 20 seats, positioning itself as the official opposition.
Tirivangani Masawi, a political journalist based in Windhoek, described the outcome as Swapo’s “worst performance since independence” on the BBC Newsday programme.
Panduleni Itula, a trained dentist, is considered more charismatic than Nandi-Ndaitwah. In the 2019 presidential election, he significantly reduced Swapo’s dominance, cutting their vote share from 87% to 56%.
The IPC has announced its intention to “pursue justice through the courts” and urged individuals who felt disenfranchised due to electoral commission mismanagement to file police reports.
Claus Goldbeck from the IPC described the voting process as an “organizational mess” in an interview with the BBC.
He highlighted issues such as people waiting in line for 14 hours due to insufficient ballot papers and malfunctioning scanners at numerous polling stations.
“The Electoral Commission of Namibia [ECN] had four years to fix things,” he said.
The ECN admitted to failures in the organisation of the votes and ballot shortages. But the chairperson, Elsie Nghikembua, denied any allegations of fraud.
“I urge all Namibians to embrace the results with the spirit of unity, diversity, understanding and reconciliation,” she said.
Swapo, which led Namibia’s liberation struggle against apartheid South Africa, faced considerable scrutiny ahead of last Wednesday’s general election. There was speculation that it might follow the trend of other regional liberation movements losing dominance.
In May, South Africa’s African National Congress (ANC) lost its outright parliamentary majority, marking a significant political shift. Similarly, Botswana’s Democratic Party was ousted from power in October after nearly six decades of rule.