By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Namibia is ready to elect its first female president as the governing SWAPO party candidate, Vice President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah takes a clear lead in the Nov. 27 extended election, even as the party leads in parliamentary polls.
In the early hours of Tuesday, result uploaded on the portal of the electoral commission indicated that Nandi-Ndaitwah was leading the presidential race with 54.82% of the vote after 65.57% of votes counted so far.
The opposition candidate Panduleni Itula and his Independent Patriots for Change trailing a distant second, with 28.09% of the presidential vote and 19.23% of the vote for the parliament had earlier vowed that his party will reject the electoral outcome over large scale malpractices, saying he will seek redress in court.
The election which started Nov. 27 and extended to Nov. 29 and Nov. 30 at several polling stations had recorded massive technical hitches.
SWAPO, which has governed the southern African nation since leading it to independence from apartheid South Africa in 1990, fielded Vice President Nandi-Ndaitwah who would become Namibia’s first female leader if declared winner.
The election extended in several polling stations as some voters were unable to cast their ballots on election day due to technical difficulties and ballot paper shortages.
For a candidate to be declared winner of presidential election in the Southern African country, she/he must secure over 50% of votes. Inability to reach this benchmark will lead to a run-off is required.
“We shall not, under any circumstances, recognise the outcome of the 2024 election… that is still, in our opinion, illegitimately continuing,” the opposition candidate, Itula told a press conference on Saturday, while calling for calm among supporters.
The party said it will “pursue justice through the courts”, encouraging those who felt that they had been unable to vote because of mismanagement by the electoral commission to go to the police to make a statement.
