Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, of the ruling South West African People’s Organization (Swapo), looks set to become Namibia’s first female president as more than 90% of votes from last week’s disputed elections have been counted.
The electoral commission said she won more than 58% of the vote, while her nearest rival Panduleni Itula received just over 25% of the vote share.
But after logistical problems and a three-day extension of elections in some parts of the country, Itula said on Saturday his party would not recognize the results due to alleged electoral malpractice.
Swapo has held power in the large but sparsely populated South African country since independence in 1990.
Nandi-Ndaitwah, a party stalwart who is currently vice president, is a reliable leader who has served in high government office for a quarter of a century.
Tanzania’s Samia Suluhu Hassan is Africa’s only female president, so Nandi-Ndaitwah would join an exclusive club if she wins.
To avoid a runoff, a candidate needs more than 50% of the vote to be declared the winner.
A trained dentist, Itula, of the Independent Patriots for Change (IPC), is seen as more charismatic than Nandi-Ndaitwah and managed to dent Swapo’s popularity in the last presidential elections in 2019, reducing the vote share from 87% to 56%. years earlier.
The IPC has said it will “pursue justice through the courts” and has encouraged people who felt they could not vote due to mismanagement by the Electoral Commission to go to the police to make a statement.
Swapo led the fight for the nation against apartheid in South Africa. Ahead of last Wednesday’s general elections, there was some speculation that this party would suffer the fate of other liberation parties in the region.
South Africa’s African National Congress lost its outright parliamentary majority in May and Botswana’s Democratic Party was ousted from power after nearly six decades in October elections.
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[Getty Images/BBC]
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