Namibia’s Vice President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah is leading early results in a presidential election, despite facing significant challenges. Technical difficulties, including a shortage of ballot papers, marred the voting process, prompting an extension of polling for three days.
Election authorities allowed polling stations to remain open until Saturday after the problems emerged, leading to growing concerns about the election’s credibility. With final results due this week, opposition parties have vowed to challenge the vote in court, arguing that the extension was illegal.
Nandi-Ndaitwah, a 72-year-old former underground independence fighter, is on track to become Namibia’s first female president. As of Monday, she led with approximately 56% of the vote, though only 220,000 of the 1.4 million votes had been counted. Opponent Panduleni Itula, from the opposition Independent Patriots for Change, trailed with 27%.
Namibia, a country on the southwest coast of Africa, has long been praised as one of the region’s most stable democracies. However, the election’s complications have cast a shadow over the process.
SWAPO, the ruling party, has governed Namibia since independence in 1990. Despite Nandi-Ndaitwah’s historical potential, the party has faced criticism for economic struggles, including high unemployment and government corruption scandals, especially affecting young people.
The opposition, led by McHenry Venaani of the Popular Democratic Movement, has voiced strong discontent. “It’s about our country and our democratic credentials,” he stated, adding that they would take legal action to ensure a fair process.
Amid rising dissatisfaction with ruling parties across southern Africa, Namibia’s election has become a flashpoint in the region’s ongoing political turmoil.