Namibia votes and could have its first female leader. But election upsets have shaken the region
Source: AP News
WINDHOEK, Namibia (AP) — A woman who joined Namibia’s underground independence movement in the 1970s is a strong contender to become its first female leader as the country voted Wednesday in a presidential election.
Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, 72, is the current vice president and the ruling SWAPO party’s candidate for president. She’s already in the lead after special voting among citizens overseas and the armed forces.
But SWAPO, which has governed the southern African country and held the presidency for 34 years since independence from apartheid South Africa in 1990, faces growing frustration caused by high unemployment and economic hardship, especially among young people.
That is a common theme that has led to momentous election upsets in other countries in the region this year. Voters elsewhere in southern Africa have rejected parties that liberated their nations from colonial or white minority rule in favor of era-ending change to address new problems.
Read here the full article published by AP News on 28 November 2024.
Image by AP News
WINDHOEK, Namibia (AP) — A woman who joined Namibia’s underground independence movement in the 1970s is a strong contender to become its first female leader as the country voted Wednesday in a presidential election.
Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, 72, is the current vice president and the ruling SWAPO party’s candidate for president. She’s already in the lead after special voting among citizens overseas and the armed forces.
But SWAPO, which has governed the southern African country and held the presidency for 34 years since independence from apartheid South Africa in 1990, faces growing frustration caused by high unemployment and economic hardship, especially among young people.
That is a common theme that has led to momentous election upsets in other countries in the region this year. Voters elsewhere in southern Africa have rejected parties that liberated their nations from colonial or white minority rule in favor of era-ending change to address new problems.
Read here the full article published by AP News on 28 November 2024.
Image by AP News
