Namibia elects Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah as its 1st female president

By James Kunda

LUSAKA, Zambia (AA) - Namibia has elected its first female leader, with ruling SWAPO party candidate and Vice President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah announced Tuesday as the winner of last week’s presidential polls.

With Nandi-Ndaitwah, 72, now president-elect, the South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO) has extended its rule in the southern African nation.

She garnered 57.31% of the vote, beating 14 other candidates and crossing the 50% threshold to avoid a runoff.

“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,” Nghikembua said in the capital, Windhoek, in a declaration of the poll results.

Nandi-Ndaitwah will be Namibia’s fifth president and Africa’s fourth female leader after Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia between 2006 and 2018, Malawi’s Joyce Banda from 2012 to 2014 and Tanzania’s incumbent Samia Suluhu Hassan.

She was previously SWAPO vice-president to President Hage Geingob, who died in February 2024 and to the outgoing President Nangolo Mbumba, who continued in a transitional role after Geingob’s demise.