Prime minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila has been elected as speaker of the National Assembly for a period of five years.
Kuugongelwa-Amadhila was elected as speaker after the swearing-in of new members of the National Assembly on Thursday.
Affirmative Repositioning leader Job Amupanda nominated Swapo parliamentarian Elijah Ngurare, who declined, for the speaker’s position, and Imms Nashinge from the Independent Patriots for Change (IPC) nominated the Landless People’s Movement’s (LPM) Bernadus Swartbooi.
Amadhila thus faced off with Swartbooi in the election for the speaker’s position.
Kuugongelwa-Amadhila has been a member of the National Assembly since 1995 and was minister of finance from 2003 to 2015.
She has served as Namibia’s prime minister from 21 March 2015 to 20 March 2025, and was the first woman to serve in that position.
Although her appointment as speaker could be seen as a demotion, she makes history again by becoming the first woman to lead Namibia’s parliament.
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