Photo: Netumbo Nandi Ndaitwah, president-elect of Namibia
The current vice president of Namibia, Netumbo Nandi Ndaitwah of the ruling South West African Peoples Organisation, SWAPO, party, has been elected the country’s first female president.
The Namibian Election Commission declared Ndaitwah the winner with 57% of the vote cast. The result means that there would be no run-off, contrary to pundits’ production.
“The Namibian nation has voted for peace and stability,” Nandi-Ndaitwah said after being declared president-elect.
The commission put the second-placed finisher, Panduleni Itula from the Independent Patriots for Change (IPC) party, on 26%. He and the IPC have said they will contest the “deeply flawed” results.
It put turnout among almost 1.5 million registered voters at 77%.
The 72-year-old current vice president Nandi-Ndaitwah was considered the favourite before the vote, representing the party that has dominated Namibian politics since the former German colony’s independence from South Africa in 1990.
After years in various leadership roles, including that of foreign minister, she’s already well-known both at home and abroad.
The results published on Tuesday constituted the least strong showing from SWAPO since independence. Namibians also voted in a new parliament during the November 27 elections.
SWAPO, the South West Africa People’s Organization, won 51 of the 96 elected seats and will return to government, while the IPC won 20 seats and will become the official opposition.
The vote was marred by technical problems and ballot paper shortages, leading to delayed results as voting was extended in some places.
The IPC alleged this was a deliberate attempt to frustrate voters and had already said it would not accept the results, whatever they showed, with Itula saying last week there was a “multitude of irregularities.”
