OSHAKATI, Namibia (AP) — Namibia’s Vice President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah could become the country’s first female president if she wins Wednesday’s presidential election.
At least 1.4 million people, or about half the population, have registered to vote in the election, which will see 15 political parties running for president and seats in the National Assembly.
Results of special early polls for Namibia’s foreign missions, sailors and security forces, announced this month by the Electoral Commission of Namibia, indicate Nandi-Ndaitwah and her party, the South West African People’s Organization (SWAPO), are in the lead .
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SWAPO has governed the south-west African country since it gained independence from South Africa’s apartheid minority government in 1990.
But in 2019, the party lost its two-thirds majority in the National Assembly for the first time since 1994. Her dismal election performance has been widely attributed to allegations of corruption and money laundering in the Namibian fishing sector. Two ministers were arrested, and businessmen linked to the ministers were also convicted and imprisoned.
Political analyst Henning Melber, professor at the University of Pretoria and the University of the Free State, believes SWAPO and Nandi-Ndaitwah should take the 2019 election results as a warning, even if they appear to be favored to win the election .
Melber said the party needs to win support from younger voters who feel disconnected from the party’s history of liberation struggles – a challenge shared by other former African liberation movements such as the African National Congress of South Africa.
“It seems there is no way back to regain such dominance. The process of erosion of legitimacy as a former liberation movement has gone too far,” he said.
He added that the “born-free” – a term for children born after the liberation of their country – will not vote based on emotions as the older generations did, but will do so on the basis of results and governance.
Nandi-Ndaitwah, 72, has pledged to create more jobs and tackle the 20% unemployment rate among youth and graduates. She has pledged to spend about 85 billion Namibian dollars ($4.7 billion) over the next five years on creating more than 500,000 jobs, a target her critics call unrealistic.
Issues affecting women, including reproductive rights, equal pay and health care, are also likely to rank highly with voters.
If she becomes president, Nandi-Ndaitwah would follow in the footsteps of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia, who made history when she became the continent’s first elected female president in 2005, and of Joyce Banda and Samba Pranza of the Central African Republic from Malawi.
Erika Thomas, a political science lecturer at the University of Namibia, said if Nandi-Ndaitwah is elected president of Namibia, she should strive to be independent, transparent and accountable.
“She should also try to push for policy and legislative frameworks for women’s participation and to include more women in political structures,” Thomas said.
SWAPO will face competition from the Independent Patriots for Change, led by former dentist Panduleni Itula, and university professor Job Amupanda’s Affirmative Repositioning party.
Political parties that participated in the elections concluded their campaigns this weekend with closing rallies.
This year’s elections in southern Africa have brought groundbreaking changes to the region’s political landscape, with South Africa’s ANC losing its 30-year parliamentary majority and the Botswana Democratic Party ousted after 58 years in power.
In Mauritius, considered one of the most stable democracies in Africa, the opposition won the recent elections in a landslide.
Disputed election results in Mozambique, which declared the ruling Frelimo party the winner, have led to ongoing protests that have left at least 30 people dead.
