WINDHOEK, Namibia (AP) — A 72-year-old woman who joined Namibia’s independence movement in the 1970s is a strong contender to become its first female leader as the country votes in presidential elections Wednesday.
Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah is the current vice president and the ruling SWAPO party’s candidate for president and is leading after the results of special early voting among civilians abroad and the armed forces were announced earlier this month.
But SWAPO, which has ruled the southern African country and served as president for 34 years since South Africa gained independence from apartheid in 1990, is facing growing frustration caused by high unemployment and economic hardship, especially among young people.
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That’s a common theme that has led to massive election disruptions in other countries in the region this year. In neighboring South Africa, the African National Congress, which ruled for three decades, lost its majority in a historic election result in June. Botswana’s ruling party lost in a landslide last month after 58 years in power, and Mauritius handed the incumbent party a surprisingly heavy defeat this month.
Mozambique’s long-ruling Frelimo party was declared the winner of elections there in October, sparking violent and sustained protests and claims of election fraud.
About 1.4 million people – about half of Namibian population – are registered to vote on the president and the composition of parliament. The country on the southwestern coast of Africa is a former German colony that came under South African control after World War I. SWAPO was at the forefront of the struggle for independence.
Fourteen other candidates are also running for president, including Panduleni Itula, a former dentist who was SWAPO’s main challenger four years ago when he ran as an independent. If a candidate does not receive more than 50% of the vote, a second round will take place, which has never happened before in Namibia.
President Hage Geingob died in office in February and Geingob Vice President Nangolo Mbumba became head of state.
Although Nandi-Ndaitwah represents the rare opportunity for a female leader in Africa, SWAPO’s popularity has waned and the party won the presidency with the lowest number of votes ever in the last national elections in 2019.
Nandi-Ndaitwah, who received part of her education in the then Soviet Union while in exile during the struggle for independence, has pledged to create more jobs and tackle the 20% unemployment rate for 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 in a country that has the Kalahari Desert through its center and the Namib Desert along its coast and one of the thinnest populations in the world . . Just over 3 million people live in Namibia, which is more than twice the size of Germany.
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AP Africa News: https://apnews.com/hub/africa
