If things turn out as Namibia’s old ruling party hopes, the country will elect its first female head of state this week.
But an atmosphere of disillusionment with the liberation movements in southern Africa, coupled with the sense of anti-incumbency in many parts of the world, could threaten what would be a historic achievement.
Vice President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, 72, is the standard-bearer of Swapo, which has led the country since independence from South Africa in 1990.
Tanzania’s Samia Suluhu Hassan is currently Africa’s only female president, so Nandi-Ndaitwah would join an exclusive club if she wins.
Her party, which had been completely dominant for three decades, saw its support plummet at the last general election. It will be voted on on Wednesday amid an unemployment rate of 19% – almost the same as three decades ago – with unsettled public finances, questions about corruption and high levels of inequality.
Nandi-Ndaitwah stands in the way of her main challenger among the fourteen other candidates: Panduleni Itula of the Independent Patriots for Change (IPC) party.
She also has to deal with the country’s traditional male-dominated political culture.
But she is a trusted leader of this sparsely populated and peaceful country, having held a top government position for a quarter of a century.
“I have always believed in teamwork, that is what has allowed me to achieve what I have achieved,” she said.
The vice president is known for her practical and pragmatic leadership style and is also fiercely loyal to the party, which she joined as a teenager.
At 14, she became part of the movement against the rule of South Africa, which had ruled the country – then known as South West Africa – since the end of the First World War and later introduced the racist system of apartheid.
Panduleni Itula worked as a dentist in Britain before returning to Namibia in 2013 [AFP]
She was recognized for her tenacity and organizational talent as leader of Swapo’s Youth League, which became a springboard to her political career, which included ministerial positions in foreign affairs, tourism, child welfare and information.
She has amassed a wealth of knowledge and experience that could serve her well if she were to take the wheel herself.
“She seems so wise, sweet and kind, even in the way she tries to say everything in such a way that even I will understand,” Laimi, a potential voter, told the BBC in the capital Windhoek.
“Itula is like a new jewelry with his glasses, his smart suit and his confident walk, but he might blind you with his shine,” said her friend Maria.
Both are young adults who have been unable to find jobs.
Itula, 67, a trained dentist, was once a Swapo stalwart himself but was expelled from the party in 2020 after running as an independent candidate against President Hage Geingob in the 2019 elections.
He had also been a youth leader and spent some time in prison before going into exile in Britain in the early 1980s. In 2013 he returned to Namibia.
Six years later, he charismatically found himself on the front row of Namibian politics, challenging Geingob in the presidential election after saying the Swapo process for choosing his candidate was flawed.
Itula’s intervention in those elections led to Swapo achieving its lowest ever share – 56% – in the presidential election and also losing its two-thirds majority in parliament.
As someone who has led a professional life outside of politics, he appeals to the 50% of the 1.5 million voters who are under the age of 35, many of whom want economic change, a job or a measurable increase in their income .
His bold and sometimes brash style, rejecting the more sedate political rhetoric of Nandi-Ndaitwah, has won him support from businessmen and the growing urban intelligentsia.
But while Itula is quick to the point and eloquent, the vice president chooses her words wisely and speaks slowly and deliberately.
Voters must make a choice between a proven party and a party that has only recently appeared on the scene [AFP]
Nandi-Ndaitwah seeks harmony and teamwork, with an emphasis on community, passion and care, and as such reaches down to the grassroots.
And as the first woman with a chance to become president of the country, she carries the hopes of some women who want a change from the patriarchal society.
However, Nandi-Ndaitwah represents the “tried and tested” old school of Namibia’s liberation struggle, while Itula represents the possible “wind of change” in a political landscape that needs a facelift.
According to political analyst Henning Melber, the close rivalry between the two leading candidates could mean that the presidential election will go into an unprecedented second round, which is necessary if no one receives more than half of the votes cast.
In neighboring South Africa, the African National Congress, which has been in power since 1994, was forced into a coalition after general elections in May. While in Botswana – just to the east – the Botswana Democratic Party, which had been dominant for almost sixty years, suffered a humiliating defeat at the end of last month.
Swapo wants to avoid the same fate.
The winner on Wednesday will be the candidate most trusted on issues such as youth unemployment, corruption, healthcare, education and improving infrastructure, while also being able to strengthen the economy.
This will have to be done without having to sell the country’s vast natural resources to foreign bidders – such as offshore gas, but also lithium and other vital metals.
Itula’s IPC did not contest the 2019 elections, but has since performed strongly in local elections and appears to be a credible political alternative. It has won praise for the way it runs some local governments.
Perhaps Nandi-Ndaitwah’s greatest asset is that, as Namibian diplomat Tuliameni Kalomoh once said, she is seen as “incorruptible, both morally and materially.”
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[Getty Images/BBC]
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