Namibia eected its first female leader, with Vice President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah declared the winner of last week’s presidential election in a result that will extend the ruling Swapo party’s 34-year hold on power.
Nandi-Ndaitwah, 72, received 57% of valid votes in the presidential race, according to the Electoral Commission of Namibia.
“The Namibian nation has voted for peace and stability,” Nandi-Ndaitwah said after being declared president-elect.
Her main challenger in this election was Panduleni Itula from the Independent Patriots for Change (IPC) party, who came second with roughly 26% of votes.
Opposition parties have rejected the results after the election was marred by technical problems, including shortages of ballot papers and other issues, causing election officials to extend voting until Saturday. L
ong queues meant that some voters gave up on the first day of voting after waiting for up to 12 hours.
The opposition parties say the extension was illegal and have pledged to challenge the results in court.
