Namibia to get its first female president

By Brian Okoth

Namibia will get its first female president, provisional results posted on the official website of the Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) show that the ruling party's candidate, Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, is certain to win the November 27 presidential election.

Results from 118 out of Namibia's 121 constituencies show that Nandi-Ndaitwah, who is the country's vice president, has 611,989 votes, which is 57.6% of the votes cast.

The SWAPO party candidate is followed by Panduleni Itula of the Independent Patriots for Change (IPC) party at 25.9% (275,319 votes).

McHenry Venaani of the Popular Democratic Movement (PDM) party has 5.2% of the vote (54,784) to come third.

Unassailable lead

Bernadus Swartbooi of the Landless People's Movement (IPM) party is fourth with 4.8% of the vote (51,085), provisional results released by Namibia's electoral agency showed on Tuesday.

Job Amupanda of the Affirmative Repositioning (AR) party has 1.8% of the vote (19,170) to come fifth.

Ten other presidential candidates have a combined total of 4.7% of the vote (49,352).

So far, the results of nearly 98% of the constituencies have already been tallied, with Nandi-Ndaitwah's lead unassailable.

Voter turnout

From the counted votes, the country's voter turnout stood at 75.7%.

A candidate requires more than 50% of the vote to win the election in the first round, failure to which, a run-off between the two top contestants is held.

About 1.45 million Namibians registered to vote in the November 27 presidential and parliamentary elections, which were marred by delays and logistical challenges, resulting in the extension of voting to November 30.

Ninety-six parliamentary seats in Namibia are up for grabs through direct election. Holders of the remaining eight of the 104-member National Assembly will be appointed by the president.

'Will not recognise outcome'

Opposition candidate Itula has said he "will not recognise" the November 27 electoral outcome, alleging that the extended voting amounted to "voter suppression" by the ruling SWAPO administration.

The Electoral Commission of Namibia maintains the results it is publishing are accurate.

Once officially declared as the winner by the electoral agency, 72-year-old Nandi-Ndaitwah will become Namibia's first female president, succeeding Nangolo Mbumba, who assumed office in February 2024 following the death of President Hage Geingob.

Nandi-Ndaitwah previously served as minister in former President Hifikepunye Pohamba's government, and deputy prime minister in the administration of late President Geingob.

Nandi-Ndaitwah has pledged to attract foreign investment and tackle youth unemployment by creating 500,000 jobs over the next five years.