NAMIBIA has sworn in its first female president, Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah.
The swearing-in took place in the country’s capital, Windhoek, as the nation celebrated its 35th Independence Day on Friday, March 31. This made it a double occasion for nationwide festivities.
The Namibian government announced a two-day holiday, with schools closing to enable citizens to partake in the festivities fully.
Nandi-Ndaitwah, born on October 29, 1952, was elected president of Namibia on December 3, 2024, winning 58 per cent of votes, which makes her the country’s fifth president and the first woman to hold the exalted office.
She is popularly known as NNN and a long-time loyalist of the South West Africa People’s Organisation (SWAPO) that has governed Namibia since its independence from South Africa in 1990.
Nandi-Ndaitwah won a seat in the National Assembly in 1990 and was first appointed as a cabinet minister in 2000 to head the Women’s and Children’s Ministry.
She has also served as minister of information, environment and tourism, and foreign affairs.
In February 2024 she was appointed vice president – the first woman to hold the post in the country.
President of Zimbabwe, Emmerson Mnangagwa, who also chairs the Southern African Development Community (SADC), attended the swearing-in among other leaders.
The ICIR reports that Namibia has added to the growing list of African nations that have elected women to the highest political office.
Liberia’s Ellen Johnson Sirleaf remains the only female president who served for over a decade – 2006-2018.
Sahle-Work Zewde served as president of Ethiopia from 2018 to 2024, the first woman to hold the office in the country.
Ameenah Gurib-Fakim was Mauritius’s first female president from June 2015 to 2018 after she was unanimously elected by the National Assembly following the resignation of President Kailash Purryag.
Joyce Hilda Banda served as Malawi’s fourth president from 2012 to May 2014 and was recognised by Forbes as the 40th most powerful woman globally and Africa’s most powerful woman in 2014.
Also, the 2015 report on ‘Female world leaders currently in power’, noted that among the 10 most populous nations in the world, China; the United States; Nigeria; Russia and Japan have no record of female leader status.
Nanji is an investigative journalist with the ICIR. She has years of experience in reporting and broadcasting human angle stories, gender inequalities, minority stories, and human rights issues.