Dressed in an egg-white suit jacket, a Swapo-coloured scarf, and her signature afro, Swapo secretary general Sophia Shaningwa steps onto the podium beaming with confidence.
“As your administrator in the office… I have the honour to present to you, comrade president, the following instruments of power,” she said on Saturday while handing over power to the new Swapo president.
For the first time, the party would be led by a woman, Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah.
The last time these symbols – the Swapo constitution, the party flag, and the gavel – were held, they were in the hands of late president Hage Geingob, who died in February 2024.
“The right person is here, and the right time is now,” Shaningwa said.
“Netumbo is coming!” the crowd chanted.
Shaningwa recounted Nandi-Ndaitwah’s journey – a leader who joined Swapo in 1974, rose through the ranks, and was elected vice president in 2017.
“Among us is a leader… a person who joined this party a long time ago, when she was young,” Shaningwa said. “She decided upon the will of the people and chose to lead the youth before independence.”
Then, the moment arrived.
Dressed in puffed-up sleeves stitched in Swapo colours and a braided head wrap, Nandi-Ndaitwah took to the stage.
Smiling, Nandi-Ndaitwah raised the Swapo fist, and later joined supporters as they danced to the music.
Supporters chanted the Ndilimani song, ‘Netumbo for president!’
The event, coinciding with International Women’s Day, was a celebration of women’s power.
Yet, her ascent comes at a challenging time. She now takes the helm of a party facing declining popularity, having lost ground in parliament with just 51 seats.
Nandi-Ndaitwah was just 21 years old when she decided to cross the borders into exile and join others in the liberation struggle of Namibia.
She became the vice president of the party in 2017 and was re-elected in 2022.
Nandi-Ndaitwah said her election as Swapo president cemented the significant steps towards achieving gender equality and prosperity in the country.
“This is going to strengthen Namibia in our strive for ensuring that gender equality becomes a reality, not just for the sake of gender equality but also for the prosperity of our people,” she said in her acceptance speech at the conference.
Nandi-Ndaitwah said becoming the female president of the party is significant to the resilience of Namibia’s democracy and to the strengthening of cultural diversity and the dreams of countless women.
She acknowledged the efforts of both women and men in the struggle for equality, justice and inclusive socio-economic development, affirming that these struggles have not been in vain.
“It is a moment of joy and I can say Namibia will go down in history,” she said.
South Africa’s former president, Thabo Mbeki, has commended Namibia on electing Nandi-Ndaitwah as the first elected female president in the Southern African Development Community (Sadc).
Sadc has had two women presidents, former Malawi president Joyce Banda and current Tanzania head of state Samia Suluhu Hassan, however, both became heads of state after the deaths of their predecessors.
“West Africa beat us to this, and I think she is the only woman president on the continent at the moment. Women are as good as any men, and she will demonstrate this in the manner in which she leads Namibia,” he says.
Mbeki was speaking in an interview with the South African Broadcasting Corporation on Saturday.
He emphasised the burden Nandi-Ndaitwah carries as one of the only current female presidents on the continent.
He recalled his relationship with the president-elect and said he has known Nandi-Ndaitwah since meeting her in exile.
“She grew up in front of us. I think I know enough about her to have confidence in her ability to lead Namibia. She will discharge her responsibilities as president of Namibia properly,” he said.
Mbeki confirmed that he will attend Nandi-Ndaitwah’s inauguration next week Friday.
He said he had personally assured Nandi-Ndaitwah of his presence during the funeral of Namibia’s founding president, Sam Nujoma.
“I was very, very happy that Swapo nominated her to be their presidential candidate. She then won the elections. I am pleased that the courts, when the matter was challenged, decided that she was properly elected,” Mbeki said.
He added that Nandi-Ndaitwah’s success will be crucial, not just for Namibia but for the entire region, and pledged his full support.
National Unity Democratic Organisation former president Esther Muinjangue has welcomed Nandi-Ndaitwah to the league of political party women presidents.
“In 2019, I became the first female president of a political party. Now Swapo has also elected a female president and for the first time, Namibia will have a female president,” she says.
Muinjangue, who first became party president in 2019, says Nandi-Ndaitwah’s election is the outcome of Namibia’s affirmative actions initiated since independence.
She says various instruments and legal frameworks have enabled the country to advance in gender equality and women and girls employment.
She says Nandi-Ndaitwah’s achievement is not only for women in Swapo but for all women in Namibia and in the Sadc region.
“I, for one, embrace this milestone and it means a lot to me as a woman. We claim our rightful place in society, a transformative era in the politics of Namibia,” she says.
Muinjangue says she looks forward to having women lead the country.
She calls for the nation to support Nandi-Ndaitwah as she takes up the responsibility of a country and calls for more women to be empowered economically, politically and culturally.
Popular Democratic Movement party member Elma Dienda says the election of Swapo’s first female president, on International Women’s Day, marked a historic moment for Namibia.
Despite the milestone, she says every position comes with challenges.
“She will, can and shall overcome any challenges that come to her. She is not new in this game of politics,” Dienda says.
She attributes her experience to all the different positions Nandi-Ndaitwah has occupied so far.
Dienda has pledged her support for Nandi-Ndaitwah.
“The Namibian people have spoken. So for me, just like I have given my support to previously elected presidents, I will do the same with honourable Netumbo. I cannot, will not, and shall not undermine her leadership,” she says.
Dienda says the incoming president will need support now more than ever.
She says both women and men must support her, urging Namibians to forget their issues and concentrate on the future.
“It’s our time to shine, women of Namibia,” she says.
Swapo Party Women Council (SPWC) secretary Fransina Kahungu highlights the achievement of Swapo electing Nandi-Ndaitwah as president, showing the party’s seriousness in progressive leadership.
“Nandi-Ndaitwah is not the president because she is a woman, but because she is qualified, We are referring to someone who was given a lot of responsibilities, who learnt various lessons,” she says.
Kahungu says since 1970, when the SPWC was formed at the Tanga Consultative Conference in Tanzania, the party has not looked back at promoting women.
The former Windhoek mayor adds that Nandi-Ndaitwah is a woman of perseverance who has been in the party for over 53 years.
She highlights the importance of inclusivity to other political parties and public and private spheres, not only in gender but also when it comes to disabilities.
“We must see people of various capacities, in this case, people with disabilities must be elevated to other levels,” she says.
However, she insists that although this is testament of the party’s stance on equal gender representation, women should not expect to be given special treatment.
“Women out there, let us not expect to be given levels or positions just because we are women. We must use our talents and do the work at lower levels so that we can prove our talents.”
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