Will Namibia elect its first female president?

Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, the deputy prime minister of Namibia, is one step closer to becoming the nation’s first female president.

Nandi-Ndaitwah was chosen as the vice president of Namibia’s ruling party on Monday (November 28), making her the front-runner to lead the party into the upcoming national elections in 2024.

The 70-year-old won the race for No. 2 in the South West African People’s Organization, beating out Prime Minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila and Environment Minister Pohamba Shifeta.

As his predecessors had done, President Hage Geingob, who is set to leave office at the end of his current term, declined to recommend a successor.

In a speech delivered on Monday in the capital, Windhoek, Geingob declared, “We have made history by electing the first female president come 2024.” As quoted by Bloomberg in a report, “I would like to tell her your task moving forward is heavy.”

The largest political party in Namibia, Swapo, has been in power since the country’s independence in 1990. However, due to widespread unemployment and a corruption scandal that resulted in the arrest of Swapo-affiliated businessmen and former cabinet ministers, the party’s support has recently declined.

In the most recent general election in 2019, the party lost its two-thirds majority in the National Assembly, and Geingob’s vote share decreased from 87% to just over 50%.