Madam President: Namibia Elects First Woman Leader Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah

SWAPO Party Vice President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah has been elected Namibia’s first female president.

The contested poll results were released by the Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) in the capital Windhoek Tuesday night, (3 December 2024).

However, opposition parties boycotted the election results announcement, except the new Affirmative Repositioning Party.

History-making 72-year-old Nandi-Ndaitwah, currently Namibia’s Vice President, secured 638 560 votes (57.31%) in the presidential poll.

Her closest rival, Panduleni Itula of the Independent Patriots for Change (IPC), secured 284 186 votes or 25.5% of the vote.

In the Parliamentary elections, SWAPO’s attraction continued to wane.

The liberation party only secured 51 seats, down from 63 seats in the previous poll in 2019 and 77 garnered in 2014.

The governing party had an overwhelming two-thirds majority from independence in 1990 to 2019.

Predictably, opposition parties led by the IPC have said they will not recognise the results of an election that they say was marred by logistical problems and in which voting was unprocedurally extended in several places.

Itula alleged there had been “glaring and undeniable” electoral malpractices, including a shortage of ballot papers in some places as well as malfunctioning technical equipment.

“We shall not, under any circumstances, recognise the outcome of the 2024 election,” Itula said, adding that “we will pursue justice through the courts”.

“Thousands of ballots remain locked away, their fate unknown, while polling agents across the country await orders from their superiors regarding ballots under their care to be counted and their results announced,” Itula said.

“Polling stations, unlawfully designated as voting centers, continued processing votes under a shroud of illegitimacy.”

Be that as it may, the results depicted a glaring decline in support for the ruling SWAPO party.

Namibians, in particular the youth, have been frustrated by the governing party’s failure to steer the economy in the right direction with unemployment on the rise.

Political analyst Ndumba Kamwanyah said there had been growing dissatisfaction with SWAPO’s governance which forced many voters to lean towards alternatives.

Another political analyst Henning Melber questioned the legitimacy of the election results arguing that procedural flaws had cast a shadow over the legitimacy of the process.

“The fact remains that the results will be questioned on the basis of the procedural flaws of the elections,” Melber said.

He said even though the announced results had meant SWAPO remained in power, “it’s time for the party to eat humble pie”.

“Legitimacy and trust in democracy are the collateral damage, leaving nobody as a winner.”

All eyes are on the opposition to see what next they will do in their dispute over the election results.