Namibia set for first female president

Namibia is on the verge of electing its first female president, with Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah holding a commanding lead in the ongoing vote count from last week’s contentious general election.

As of Tuesday, with 65.57 percent of the votes tallied, the Electoral Commission of Namibia reported that Nandi-Ndaitwah, 72, the candidate of the ruling South West Africa People’s Organisation (SWAPO), leads with 54.82 percent of the vote.

However, the electoral process has been marred by delays, with voting, originally scheduled to conclude on November 27 extended by three days in several locations due to technical glitches and ballot paper shortages.

The main opposition party, the Independent Patriots for Change (IPC), has denounced the election as fraudulent.

Nandi-Ndaitwah, Namibia’s vice president, needs to secure over 50 percent of the total votes to avoid a run-off, and while her current lead suggests a strong possibility of victory, the final outcome will only be confirmed when the remaining votes are counted later this week.