Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah elected first woman president of Namibia

Namibia’s Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah has been elected as the first woman president of the country.

The country’s ruling SWAPO party was declared winner on Tuesday after last week’s disputed elections ushering in the southern African country’s first woman president.

The 72-year-old Ndaitwah took just over 57 percent of ballots followed by the candidate for the main opposition Independent Patriots for Change (IPC) with 25.5 percent, The Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) announced on Tuesday.

‘Peace and stability’

The ECN said of the nearly 1.5 million registered voters in the sparsely populated country, nearly 77 percent had cast ballots in the presidential vote.

“The Namibian nation has voted for peace and stability,” Nandi-Ndaitwah said after being declared president-elect.

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Opposition parties have rejected the results after the election was marred by technical problems, including shortages of ballot papers and other issues, causing election officials to extend voting until Saturday, according to AFP.

Long queues meant that some voters gave up on the first day of voting after waiting for up to 12 hours.

The IPC said this was a deliberate attempt to frustrate voters and it would not accept the results

Swapo

The November 27 election was a test of SWAPO’s 34-year grip on power, with the IPC attracting some support from younger generations.

Youth unemployment, enduring inequalities and the emergence of a generation born after independence are challenging support towards Swapo which has ruled since 1990.

Namibia is a major uranium and diamond exporter but analysts say not many of its nearly three million people have benefited from that wealth in terms of improved infrastructure and job opportunities.

Unemployment among 15- to 34-year-olds is estimated at 46 percent, according to the latest official figures from 2018, which is almost triple the national average.

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