President Hage Geingob has reaffirmed Swapo vice president Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah as the party’s presidential candidate for the 2024 general election and potentially his successor as head of state.
Geingob was speaking to United Nation’s General Assembly in New York on Wednesday.
This comes amid a demand for an extraordinary Swapo congress to elect a presidential candidate for 2024, raising concerns about Nandi-Ndaitwah’s endorsement as the party’s candidate during the 2022 Swapo congress.
“The current deputy prime minister (Nandi-Ndaitwah) 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,” Geingob said at the UN.
Former minister Jerry Ekandjo has penned a letter to 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 highlighted 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.