"I am saying to you, we are going to do what we have told you. Thank you for your trust and confidence in us."
These were the words of the President-elect of Namibia, Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah to her compatriots after she was declared winner of the November presidential elections.
Chairperson of the Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN), Dr Elsie Nghikembua declared Nandi-Ndaitwah of the South West Africa People's Organisation (Swapo) party the winner of the presidential election after she polled 638,560 votes of the 1,108,583 votes cast, 58.1 percent of total.
Her closest competitor out of 14 other presidential candidates Panduleni Itula of the Independent Patriots for Change (IPC) polled 284,106 votes (25.8 percent). This is a decline from the 29.4 percent he got in the previous election in 2019.
Namibia uses a hybrid system for the election of the president and parliamentarians. For presidential elections, a majority system is used, in which the winning candidate must get at least 50 percent plus one of the votes to avoid a run-off election.
For parliamentary polls, the proportional representation system is used. Under this system, each political party submits a list of candidates and the number of seats that each party receives is relative to its overall share of the national vote.
Nandi-Ndaitwah made history as the first woman to be elected president of independent Namibia.
She will become the country's fifth President after the founding president Sam Nujoma, who was followed by Hifikepunye Pohamba, Dr Hage Geingob and the outgoing President, Nangolo Mbumba.
Affectionately referred to by her initials as NNN, the President-elect is a veteran politician and diplomat, having served in various positions in the party and government.
She was appointed Vice President early this year, taking over from Mbumba who has been acting President since the death of Dr Geingob in February 2024.
Before that she served as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of International Relations and Cooperation. She has previously served as Minister of Environment and Tourism, Minister of Information and Broadcasting, Minister of Women Affairs and Child Welfare, Director General of Women Affairs in the Office of the Prime Minister, and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs. In 2017, Nandi-Ndaitwah broke new ground when she was elected vice president of Swapo, making her the first woman to serve in that position.
She led her party to victory in the parliamentary elections, where Swapo secured 53 percent of total votes cast, winning 51 of the 96 elected seats. This is lower than the 63 seats the party won in the previous election.
The IPC came second with 20 seats, followed by Affirmative Repositioning with six, while the Landless People's Movement and the Popular Democratic Movement won five seats each. Other smaller parties won the remainder of the seats.
Twenty-one political parties participated in the election, which was described by regional observers as peaceful, transparent and in compliance with regional and international standards.
Swapo ran its election campaign under the theme, "Unity in Diversity: Natural Resources Beneficiation and Youth Empowerment for Sustainable Development."
The party said it had made "significant gains" towards improving water infrastructure, expanding the road networks, rural electrification, service delivery in education and health as well as enhancing social safety nets.
The party promised voters that it will continue on its developmental path and focus on job creation, housing, sustainable economic growth, quality service delivery, integrity, accountability and the rule of law.
"I would like to, on behalf of the Swapo leadership, supporters and sympathisers, thank the Namibian people for once again having shown their confidence and trust for Swapo to continue providing guidance on our developmental agenda and strengthening of our institution," President-elect Nandi-Ndaitwah said in her acceptance speech following the announcement of the final election results in Windhoek on 3 December.
Her presidency will strive to foster unity, diversity, natural resources beneficiation and youth empowerment for economic development, she said.
Like most elections, the Namibian polls faced some logistical and other challenges that resulted in voting being extended by two days to allow voters to participate in choosing their leaders.
The IPC and other smaller parties have, however, indicated that they will challenge the final results in court, arguing that there was lack of transparency, recurrent technical problems and potential voter disenfranchisement.
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The ECN admitted it faced logistical and administrative challenges but emphasised that this did not affect the outcome of the polls.
"We are confident that the results reflect the democratic will of the voters. The Commission, therefore, declares this as a free, fair, and credible election that has met legal requirements of the law and international best practices," said Dr Nghikembua.
The president-elect is due to assume office in March 2025.
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