WINDHOEK, NAMIBIA — Namibia extended voting for a second time Thursday with the opposition crying foul after logistical failures prevented many people from casting their ballots in the closely fought election.

With the ruling party facing its strongest challenge yet, opposition parties called for a halt to the vote counting and said they had lost confidence in the process.

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.

In a parliamentary democracy like Namibia, all power shall be vested in the people through freely elected representatives exercising this power.

Some 51 % of Namibia’s population are women who still face many injustices based on their gender.

Namibia has a long history of many types of social inequality, including gender inequality.

Only 26.5% of the world’s parliamentarians are women, placing the world on the back foot in achieving gender parity, but Namibia could achieve its 50/50 target by 2025.

Gender equality minister Doreen Sioka is confident that this is achievable. 

A CROSS section of female politicians in Namibia have voiced their concern over the slow progress of political parties in implementing 50/50 (zebra style) representation in party structures and parliament.

While some believe the country is on the right path to achieving the set Southern African Development Community (SADC) target of 30% representation of women in positions of power, primarily in politics, others believe not enough is not being done, and called for a paradigm shift.

One of Africa’s youngest cabinet members to date is experiencing a baptism of fire.

Emma Theofelus, 23, was appointed Namibia’s information, communication and technology deputy minister a week after coronavirus hit Namibian shores. “I have literally been learning on the job so far,” she says.

Part of Theofelus’s role is to help lead communication to the public on preventative steps against the pandemic.

Calm and confident, Esther Muinjangue, Namibia’s first woman to run for president, says she feels a “wind of change” softly blowing through the southwest African country which goes to the polls on Wednesday.

From her modest home in a quiet suburb of the capital Windhoek, Muinjangue spoke about her bid to “restore dignity” to the country’s 2.45 million inhabitants – struggling through an economic recession after nearly 30 years of independence from South Africa.