Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwa, nicknamed NNN, made history by being elected the first female President of Namibia.
According to the Electoral Commission, the 72-year-old won more than 57% of the votes, while his nearest rival, Panduleni Itula, got 26%.
It is the latest episode in a life full of remarkable events – Nandi-Ndaitwa has fought against the occupying forces, fled into exile and established herself as one of the most prominent women in Namibian politics.
However, Itula rejected his victory. He said the election was “deeply flawed” following logistical problems and a three-day extension to voting in some parts of the country.
His Independent Patriots for Change (IPC) party said it would challenge the result in court.
Nandi-Ndaitwa has been a staunch member of the ruling party Swapo since he was a teenager and vows to lead Namibia’s economic transformation.
Nandi-Ndaitwah was born in 1952 in the northern village of Onamutai. She was the ninth of 13 children and her father was an Anglican priest.
At that time, Namibia was known as South West Africa and its people were occupied by South Africa.
Nandi-Ndaitwa joined Swapo, a liberation movement opposed to South Africa’s white-minority rule, when he was just 14 years old.
A passionate activist, Nandi-Ndaitwah became the leader of the Swapos Youth League.
This role set her up for a successful political career, but at the time Nandi-Ndaitwa was interested in liberating South West Africa.
“Politics has come only because of circumstances. I probably should have become a scientist,” he said Interview This year.
As a high school student, Nandi-Ndaitwa was arrested and imprisoned during a crackdown on Swapo activists.
As a result of this persecution, he decided that he could not remain in the country and joined several other SWPO members in exile.
He continued to organize with the movement while in Zambia and Tanzania before moving to the UK to pursue an International Relations degree.
Then in 1988 – 14 years after Nandi-Ndaitwah fled his country – South Africa finally recognized Namibia’s independence.
Nandi-Ndaitwa returned home and subsequently joined the post-independence Swapo-run government.
In subsequent years, he has held various posts, including ministerial roles in foreign affairs, tourism, child welfare and information.
Nandi-Ndaitwa became famous as a women’s rights advocate. One of his major achievements was the passage of the Combating Domestic Violence Act in 2002 through the National Assembly.
According to Namibian media, Nandi-Ndaitwa criticized her male colleagues for trying to mock the draft law, sternly reminding them that the Swapo constitution condemns sexism.
Despite Namibia’s traditional and male-dominated political culture, she continued to rise, and in February this year she became vice president.
He succeeded Nangolo Mbumba who stepped up after the death of then President Hage Gyingob.
In her personal life, Nandi-Ndaitwa is married to Epaphras Denga Ndaitwa, former head of the Namibian Defense Forces. The couple has three sons.
Throughout his career, Nandi-Ndaitwa has demonstrated a pragmatic style of leadership.
He once declared in a speech: “I am an implementer, not a storyteller.”
