Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah is expected to become Namibia’s first female head of state if she wins the forthcoming Presidential elections in November 2024.
Nandi-Ndaitwah is the presidential nominee of Namibia’s ruling party South West Africa People’s Organisation and former independence movement commonly known as SWAPO.
She is currently the Deputy Prime Minister of Namibia since March 2015.
“The current deputy prime minister has been selected by the ruling party to be the (presidential) candidate and very soon, after I leave in a year’s time, she might be the one to come and stand here,” President Hage Geingob said during his speech at the 78th UNGA.
However, Namibia’s former minister Jerry Ekandjo has penned a letter to President Geingob, contending that the 2022 Swapo congress did not officially designate a presidential candidate for the 2024 national elections.
In contrast, Swapo politburo member and lawyer Sisa Namandje recently rejected appeals for a fresh party congress to appoint the ruling party’s candidate for the presidential election, deeming such calls “unnecessary” and a “waste of time”.
Geingob further told the UN General Assembly in New York about Namibia’s ongoing commitment to promoting women’s leadership.
He pointed out that in addition to achieving 44% female representation in parliament, the country currently boasts a female prime minister and deputy prime minister.
Furthermore, he noted that two-thirds of the country’s major banking institutions are under the leadership of women.
