AFRICA/NAMIBIA – SWAPO candidate wins presidential election news

Windhoek (Agenzia Fides) – Outgoing Vice President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah emerged victorious in Namibia’s presidential election held on November 27 (see Fides, 27/11/2024). Representing SWAPO (South West Africa People’s Organization), which has led the country since its independence in 1990, Nandi-Ndaitwah secured 58.1% of the vote. Her closest competitor, Panduleni Itula of the Independent Patriots for Change (IPC), garnered 25.8%.

Observers from the Inter-Regional Meeting of the Bishops of Southern Africa (IMBISA)—a body comprising bishops from Angola, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, São Tomé and Príncipe, South Africa, and Zimbabwe—praised the elections for being conducted in a calm and peaceful environment. They highlighted measures such as “restrictions on the sale of alcohol during public holidays and weekends,” which helped maintain order.

In a statement, the IMBISA monitoring team noted that approximately 1.5 million voters were allowed to cast their ballots anywhere in the country, not limited to their registered districts. However, the elections faced logistical challenges, prompting an extension of voting until November 30 in some polling stations. These issues included ballot shortages and technical difficulties with voter verification tablets, leading to long queues where some voters waited up to 12 hours to cast their vote.

The delays and logistical shortcomings sparked criticism from both political parties and the public, with opposition groups questioning the election’s legitimacy. IMBISA recommended improvements for future elections, including enhanced logistics and electronic systems, to ensure efficiency, fairness, and transparency while avoiding doubts about impartiality or irregularities.

The IMBISA Secretariat emphasized the importance of addressing these issues to strengthen confidence in the electoral process (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides, 6/12/2024).