{"id":18925,"date":"2024-11-26T05:37:23","date_gmt":"2024-11-26T05:37:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/?p=18925"},"modified":"2024-11-26T05:37:23","modified_gmt":"2024-11-26T05:37:23","slug":"is-namibia-going-to-elect-its-first-female-leader","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/?p=18925","title":{"rendered":"Is Namibia going to elect its first female leader?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"AFPAFP<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah has been a loyal member of the governing party since she was 14<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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If things work out as Namibia\u2019s long-time governing party hopes, the country will be electing its first female head of state this week.<\/p>\n

But a mood of disillusionment with liberation movements in southern Africa, coupled with the anti-incumbency feeling in many parts of the world, may pose a threat to what would be an historic achievement.<\/p>\n

Vice-President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, 72, is the flag-bearer for Swapo, which has led the country since independence from apartheid South Africa in 1990.<\/p>\n

Tanzania’s Samia Suluhu Hassan is currently Africa’s only female president, so Nandi-Ndaitwah would be joining an exclusive club if she is victorious.<\/p>\n

Her party, totally dominant for three decades, saw a large drop in its support in the last general election. It goes into Wednesday\u2019s vote amid an unemployment rate of 19% – almost the same as it was 30 years ago \u2013 troubled government finances, questions about corruption and high levels of inequality.<\/p>\n

Standing in Nandi-Ndaitwah\u2019s way is her main challenger among the 14 other candidates – Panduleni Itula of the Independent Patriots for Change (IPC) party. <\/p>\n

She is also up against a traditional and male-dominated political culture in the country.<\/p>\n

But she is a trusted leader of this sparsely populated and peaceful country having served in high government office for a quarter of a century.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have always believed in teamwork, that is what made me achieve what I have achieved,\u201d she has said.<\/p>\n

Known for her hands-on and pragmatic style of leadership, the vice-president is also fiercely loyal to the party, which she joined as a teenager.<\/p>\n

At 14 she became part of the movement resisting rule from South Africa, which had governed the country \u2013 then known as South West Africa \u2013 since the end of World War One and later introduced the racist system of apartheid.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Panduleni Itula worked as a dentist in the UK before returning to Namibia in 2013<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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She was recognised for her tenacity and organisational talent as leader of Swapo\u2019s Youth League, which became a stepping stone to her political career, which has included ministerial roles in foreign affairs, tourism, child welfare and information.<\/p>\n

She has garnered a wealth of knowledge and experience that could stand her in good stead should she get into the driving seat.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe seems so wise and sweet and kind, even in the way she tries to say everything in such a way that even like me will understand,\u201d Laimi, a potential voter, told the BBC in the capital, Windhoek.<\/p>\n

\u201cItula is like a new piece of jewellery with his glasses, his smart suit and his confident walk, but maybe he blinds you with his shine,\u201d said her friend Maria. <\/p>\n

Both are young adults who have been unable to find jobs.<\/p>\n

A trained dentist, Itula, 67, was himself once a Swapo stalwart but was expelled from the party in 2020 after runnig as an independent candidate against President Hage Geingob in the 2019 poll.<\/p>\n

He had also been a youth leader and spent some time in prison before going into exile in the UK in the early 1980s. He returned to Namibia in 2013.<\/p>\n

Six years later, he charismatically came crashing into the front row of Namibian politics, challenging Geingob in the presidential election after saying the Swapo process for choosing its candidate was flawed.<\/p>\n

Itula\u2019s intervention in that election led to Swapo getting its lowest ever share \u2013 56% – in the presidential election and also losing its two-thirds majority in parliament.<\/p>\n

As someone who had a professional life outside politics, he has an appeal to the 50% of the 1.5 million voters who are under the age of 35, many of whom want economic change, a job or a measurable boost to their incomes.<\/p>\n

His bold and at times brash style, rejecting the more staid political rhetoric of Nandi-Ndaitwah, has seen him win support among business people and the growing urban intelligentsia.<\/p>\n

But while Itula is quick off the mark and eloquent, the vice-president chooses her words wisely, and speaks slowly and deliberately.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Voters are having to make a choice between a tried-and-tested party and one that has only recently come on the scene<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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Nandi-Ndaitwah seeks harmony and teamwork, emphasising community, passion and care, and as such, reaches right down to the grass roots.<\/p>\n

And as the first woman with a chance of becoming the country\u2019s president, she carries the hope of some women who want a change from the patriarchal society.<\/p>\n

However, Nandi-Ndaitwah represents the \u201ctried and trusted\u201d old school of Namibia\u2019s liberation struggle, while Itula represents the possible \u201cwind of change\u201d in a political landscape needing a facelift.<\/p>\n

According to political analyst Henning Melber, the close rivalry between the two leading candidates could mean that the presidential election will go into an unprecedented second round run-off, which is required if no-one gets more than half of the votes cast.<\/p>\n

In neighbouring South Africa, the African National Congress, in power since 1994, was forced into a coalition following May\u2019s general election. While in Botswana \u2013 just to the east \u2013 the Botswana Democratic Party, dominant for nearly six decades, crashed to a humiliating defeat at the end of last month<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Swapo wants to avoid the same fate.<\/p>\n

The winner on Wednesday will be the candidate who can be most trusted on issues such as youth unemployment, corruption, health care, education and infrastructure improvement, while also being able to bolster the economy. <\/p>\n

This will need to happen without having to sell off the country’s vast natural resources to foreign bidders – such as off-shore gas as well as lithium and other essential metals. <\/p>\n

Itula\u2019s IPC was not part of the elections in 2019, but has performed strongly in local elections since then and has the appearance of a credible political alternative. It has won praise for the way it has run some local governments.<\/p>\n

Nandi-Ndaitwah\u2019s biggest asset may be that she is, as Namibian diplomat Tuliameni Kalomoh once stated, seen as \u201cincorruptible, both morally and materially\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"GettyGetty Images\/BBC<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

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Source: <\/em> www.bbc.com\u2026<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

AFP Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah has been a loyal member of the governing party since she was 14 If things work out as Namibia\u2019s long-time governing party hopes, the country will be electing its first female head of state this week. But a mood of disillusionment with liberation movements in southern Africa, coupled with the anti-incumbency feeling […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18925","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18925","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18925"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18925\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18925"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18925"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18925"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}