Namibia’s female VP ahead in early election results, but opposition cries foul over irregularities

Namibia’s female vice president Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah from the ruling SWAPO party leads — as widely expected — in early results in the presidential election marred by significant problems, amid rising tensions as opposition parties denounce its outcome, seeking legal action.
Plagued by significant technical issues, including ballot shortages and other problems, Namibia’s presidential election was extended for three days, sparking controversy. But the opposition, led by the Independent Patriots for Change, has rejected the results, claiming the extension was illegal in a country that has been praised for being one of the region’s more stable democracies. With final results expected this week, opposition parties have wowed to challenge the validity of the election in court.
These challenges threaten to overshadow any result, with the 72-year-old Nandi-Ndaitwah of the ruling South West Africa People’s Organisation (SWAPO) party — having around 56% of the vote in the partial results published Monday (2 December) — a strong contender to become Namibia’s first female president. As Namibia now faces election chaos following these “irregularities”, this development in the former German colony follows a similar trend across southern Africa, from South Africa to Botswana to Mauritius where support for long-standing ruling parties has markedly dwindled. The ruling party in neighboring Botswana lost in a landslide last month after 58 years in power since independence from Britain, while South Africa’s once-strong African National Congress (ANC) had to form a coalition government with the Democratic Alliance (DA) to govern for the first time since independence.