Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah has been elected as president of Namibia, making her the country’s fifth and first female president, BBC reports.
The electoral commission had on Tuesday declared the 72-year-old winner of last week’s election with 57% of the vote, thereby extending the ruling South West Africa People’s Organisation (SWAPO) party’s grip on power since independence from South Africa in 1990. SWAPO has been in power in the large but sparsely populated southern African country since independence in 1990.
Here are all the things to know about Namibia’s new president.
1. Netumbo Nandi was born on 29 October 1952 in Ovamboland, South West Africa, which today is northern Namibia.
2. She is the ninth of 13 children.
3. She obtained a postgraduate diploma in public administration and management from the Glasgow College of Technology in the United Kingdom, and in 1988 a further postgraduate diploma in international relations from Keele University, also in the UK. In 1989, Nandi-Ndaitwah obtained a master’s degree in diplomatic studies, also from Keele University.
4. She became the SWAPO deputy representative in Zambia from 1976 until 1978 and the chief representative in Zambia from 1978 to 1980. From 1980 until 1986, she was the SWAPO chief representative in East Africa, based at Dar es Salaam.
5. From 1990 to 1996, she was deputy minister of International Relations and Cooperation. She gained ministerial status in 1996 as director-general of Women’s Affairs in the Office of the President, where she served until 2000 till her promotion to Minister of Women’s Affairs and Child Welfare.
6. She was the Minister of Information and Broadcasting in Namibia’s cabinet from 2005 to 2010.
7. She also served as Minister of Environment and Tourism until a major cabinet reshuffle in December 2012, in which she was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs, now the International Relations and Cooperation portfolio.
8. Nandi-Ndaitwah was appointed as Deputy Prime Minister of Namibia in March 2015 while also serving as Minister of International Relations and Cooperation.
9. In 2017, she was elected vice president of SWAPO, the first woman to serve in that position.
10. She was also SWAPO‘s first female presidential candidate for the 2024 Namibian general election.
11. Following President Geingob’s death in February 2024, Nandi-Ndaitwah was appointed vice president, succeeding Nangolo Mbumba, who became president, making her the first female to occupy the position.
12. She holds an honorary doctorate from the University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
13. Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah is married to Epaphras Denga Ndaitwah, former Chief of the Namibian Defence Force.
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