from ALFRED SHILONGO & AKANI CHAUKE in Windhoek
Namibia Bureau
WINDHOEK, (CAJ News) – NAMIBIA is poised to have its first female president if the ruling party manages to fight back a trend of liberation parties being voted out of power in recent months.
Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah is the candidate for the reigning South West Africa People’s Organisation (SWAPO) party that has been in power since independence from apartheid South Africa in 1990.
Namibia is heading for seventh general elections on Wednesday, months after outgoing president, Hage Geingob, died while receiving treatment for cancer and was replaced by his deputy, Nangolo Mbumba, who will serve out the remainder of his term, which expires in March 2025.
Mbumba has announced he has no intention of running for president, placing Nandi-Ndaitwah (aged 72) in line for the job.
SWAPO is under pressure in the upcoming election, having lost its two-thirds majority in the National Assembly in 2019.
This was attributed to some government ministers’ implication in corruption and money laundering.
It was the worst scandal afflicting the government since self-rule.
There are qualms among the youth over unemployment, estimated at 20 percent, in the Southern African country of 3 million people, with 1,4 million registered to vote.
A majority of registered voters are youth and do not resonate with SWAPO’S liberation war credentials.
Thus, the governing party risks being voted out of office, a trend that has befallen fellow governing parties in the 16-member states Southern African Development Community (SADC) regional bloc.
Already this year, the neighbouring South Africa’s ruling African National Congress (ANC) lost its 30-year parliamentary majority.
In the other neighbouring nation, Botswana’s Democratic Party (BDP) has been voted out of office after 58 years in power.
The opposition in Mauritius recently won polls by a landslide kicking out the then ruling party.
Further afield, the ruling Front for the Liberation of Mozambique (FRELIMO) is fighting for legitimacy after elections the opposition claim were rigged, much to the death of dozens of civilians in the aftermath.
“It is a watershed moment for Namibia,” said analyst, Petrus Sinimbo.
“Either, the country will have its first female president or will have the ignominy of being the latest liberation party in the region to lose power,” he added.
“With the prevailing challenges afflicting the majority youth, Namibia is not exempt to the winds of change sweeping through Southern Africa,” Sinimbo forecast.
NNN, as the candidate of the ruling party is also known, has pledged to create more jobs and tackle unemployment if elected.
Her target is to create 500 000 jobs in her first five-year term, but critics assert this is untenable in an economy that is emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic.
“That is unrealistic and simply a campaign ploy. How can she achieve in five years what her party has failed in 34 years?” quipped commentator, Paulus Shipanga.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) projects the Namibian economy to grow by over 3 percent this year.
The Bretton Woods Institution notes that Namibia has shown resilience to the negative shocks from the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Output has recovered to the pre-pandemic level and inflation has fallen below 6 percent.
Prospects are brightened with discovery of oil and gas reserves.
At the same time, Namibia is poised to benefit from the global transition to green energy, through Namibia’s signature Green Hydrogen Project.
Nandi-Ndaitwah has largely been mobilising voters through social media.
“We are too many to lose to the opposition,” she noted.
“We want a female President, and Nandi is that President,” she said of her prospects.
Nandi-Ndaitwah is one of 15 candidates, with Panduleni Itula of the Independent Patriots for Change (IPC), McHenry Venaani of Popular Democratic Movement (PDM) and the Republican Party’s (RP’s) Henry Mudge among the other contestants.
Preparations for the elections have progressed well in a country that is noted for being one of the most stable in the continent.
Crisis24 nonetheless forecast that while previous electoral periods in Namibia had remained peaceful and transparent, the credible challenge posed by the opposition and the possibility of a second vote for the presidential election would likely lead to increased tensions throughout the process.
“Violence between opposing supporters or with security services, while unlikely, remains possible,” the security think tank projected.
Last week, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) deployed its Electoral Observation Mission (SEOM) to Namibia.
Anne Semamba Makinda, former Speaker of Parliament of Tanzania, leads the mission.
SADC has previously been accused of lacking impartiality and siding with ruling parties during the elections, the latest being in Mozambique, where the bloc’s chairperson, Zimbabwean president, Emmerson Mnangagwa, congratulated Daniel Chapo, before authorities officially announced the results.
Samia Suluhu Hassan, president of Tanzania and chairperson of the SADC Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation, said over the years, Namibia had maintained an exemplary reputation of being a peaceful nation that upheld democratic principles and conducted peaceful elections across its regions with minor challenges.
“We trust that the citizens of Namibia will once again showcase the delivery of an election process adherent to cornerstone democratic principles and the SADC Principles and Guidelines, both on and in the aftermath of election day,” Hassan said.
– CAJ News