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Against all odds, SWAPO’s presidential candidate, Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, has emerged victorious in Namibia’s elections, making history as the country’s first female president.
Final results announced late Tuesday night by the Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) revealed that Nandi-Ndaitwah secured a decisive victory, garnering over 57% of the votes. Her closest rival, Penduleni Itula, received 26%.
Rising from her days as a young political activist, to one of the region’s most respected diplomats, and now President, Nandi-Ndaitwah now takes her position among a distinguished group of veteran political leaders who have been active both before and after independence across the region.
This groundbreaking achievement inspires women who have long hesitated to pursue the highest office, reaffirming that leadership knows no gender.
How she was chosen?
On March 12, 2023, the late Namibian President Hage Geingob announced Nandi-Ndaitwah as SWAPO’s sole presidential candidate. This followed a process of internal consultations in the party.
In his address to the party, President Geingob called on members to rally behind the first female candidate for the presidency.
“Elections took place, and we have the results. We will have one candidate only, and that will be Comrade Nandi-Ndaitwah. We will campaign, and we have one person who will lead us,” he declared.
Tragically, President Geingob passed away almost a year after making this announcement. In a show of unity and respect for his legacy, SWAPO swiftly reaffirmed Nandi-Ndaitwah as their candidate, solidifying the party’s commitment to his vision.
Tracing her history
But who is Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah?
Born to Nekoto Shadua-Nandi and Petros Nandi at Chamuta in northern Nambia on 29 October 1952, the young Nandi-Ndaitwah was educated at St Mary’s Mission in Odibo.
She was marshalled into nationalist politics by her parents who were political activists. Growing under the rule of South Africa’s apartheid government, Nandi-Ndaitwah was involved in politics from an early age. She spent her 21st birthday in prison for leading mass protests against the apartheid regime, in her role as SWAPO’s Youth League chair in Owamboland.
From August to December 1973, she was imprisoned alongside many comrades. Upon release, many of her colleagues were subjected to public flogging, but she was spared the whip. Seeing the brutality emboldened her. Nandi-Ndaitwah soon fled her homeland into exile in Zambia.
Speaking last year about her life to The Namibian, a Windhoek-based newspaper, Vice President Nandi-Ndaitwah said her “journey in politics has always been linked to SWAPO activities” since the time she joined the party in 1966.
She became the deputy representative of SWAPO in Zambia from 1976-1978 and the chief representative from 1978- 1980. From 1980-1986, she was posted to East Africa in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, where she was the chief representative of SWAPO.
SWAPO, and her educational background, shaped her revolutionary political stance. A major turning point in her political awakening what when she enrolled at the Lenin Higher Konsomol School in the then Soviet Union (1975-1976). This training was to direct her future political course.
She graduated from the Lenin Higher Konsomol School with a diploma in work and practice of the communist youth movement. She was to later obtain a post-graduate diploma in public administration and management from the Glasgow College of Technology, United Kingdom. In 1998,
she obtained another post-graduate diploma in International Relations from Keel University, UK and topped it up with a Master’s Degree in Diplomatic Studies from Keele University.
Independence
When the country attained independence on March 21, 1990, Nandi-Ndaitwah was one the first members of the Namibian National Assembly, serving first as Deputy Minister of International Relations and Cooperation from 1990- 1996. She was also the inaugural President of the Namibian National Women’s Organisation (NANAWO) from 1991 to 1994.
From 1996-2000, she was the Director General of Women Affairs in the Office of the President and thereafter was appointed Minister of Women’s Affairs and Child Welfare from 2005-2010. She was later appointed Minister of Environment, returning to the Ministry of International Relations and Cooperation, this time as a Minister, in 2012.
In 2015, the late President Geingob appointed her Deputy Prime Minister.
Vice President
In 2017, Nandi-Ndaitwah was elected vice president of SWAPO at the party’s congress, the first woman to serve in that position. Six years later, she became the sole presidential candidate for SWAPO.
Achievements
Speaking of her achievements, Nandi-Ndaitwah said: “My biggest achievement is Namibia’s independence. Looking for a Namibia that is peaceful and stable.”
And on her thoughts after being elected the sole SWAPO presidential candidate, Nandi-Ndaitwah said: “I must tell you that in our system, the SWAPO system, it is the SWAPO members who decide as to who should be their presidential candidate. Throughout my political journey, I have never refused a task given to me by SWAPO.”
Those who have worked with her say she is a hands-on boss who pays attention to detail.
Her cousin, Tuliameni Kalomoh, once told the local media that Nandi-Ndaitwah is “incorruptible, whether morally or materially,” and described her as a “rules-based woman without any scandal in her long political career.”
Nandi-Ndaitwah’s victory reflects the strong confidence that the majority of Namibians have in her leadership and in her party, SWAPO, which has led the country on a path of prosperity since 1990 as a former liberation movement.
Online Reporter