Skip to main content

First woman president in Namibia

Namibia has its first woman president. Namibians say it won’t mean much for women

Namibia’s presidential and National Assembly elections this year have been historic on many fronts. They were the country’s most controversial elections, with accusations of foreign interference and election rigging at the forefront; while the country’s first female president was elected.
Published from Blogger Prime Android App
The South West Africa People’s Organisation’s (Swapo’s) Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah was announced as the president-elect on Tuesday night, with 57.69% of the vote.

The announcement was made at the Electoral Commission of Namibia’s (ECN’s) headquarters in Windhoek, but many parties were absent — contributing to a sombre mood.

Multiple parties, including the incoming official opposition party, the Independent Patriots for Change (IPC), and the Landless People’s Movement (LPM) boycotted the announcement, as they do not recognise the election’s results.

In a statement issued moments before the announcement, the IPC reaffirmed its decision to challenge the election results in the courts.

“Thousands of ballots remain locked away, their fate unknown, while polling agents across the country await orders from their superiors regarding ballots under their care to be counted and their results announced.

“Polling stations, unlawfully designated as voting centres, continue processing votes under a shroud of illegitimacy,” said the IPC.

Swapo might have kept the presidency, but it fell short in the National Assembly ballot — securing only 51 seats. This continued the party’s gradual decline in the National Assembly — it won 77 seats in 2014 and 63 seats in 2019 out of 96.

While Nandi-Ndaitwah’s election is a landmark move for gender representation, Namibia is marred by high rates of sexual abuse and sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV). The United Nations Population Fund estimates that nearly a third of all women in Namibia have experienced physical violence from an intimate partner at some point in their lives.

A shallow victory for women
The award-winning intersectional activist Ndiilokelwa Nthengwe said Nandi-Ndaitwah’s appointment was “historic, but immaterial”. According to Nthengwe, Nandi-Ndaitwah does not have a track record that indicates that women in Namibia will benefit greatly from her presidency.

“For the Swapo party it’s historic, because they have a party leader that was set to become the first female president, but for the country not so much,” said Nthengwe.

They said Namibia was “in a state of delusion, in which we believe that an elderly woman can solve our social issues”. Nthengwe noted that Namibia remained patriarchal, because “we still associate women with social issues, but men with politics. We cannot just say that because she is the first female president, our issues around SGBV and femicide will be resolved.”

First-time voter Ester Eino echoed this sentiment. Eino pointed out that Swapo had no prominent focus on women’s rights during its campaign, other than having a female candidate.

“Swapo has not really identified anything for women, so we don’t know where we stand when it comes to issues like abortion rights and rights to maternity care,” said Eino.

“Polling stations, unlawfully designated as voting centres, continue processing votes under a shroud of illegitimacy,” said the IPC.

Swapo might have kept the presidency, but it fell short in the National Assembly ballot — securing only 51 seats. This continued the party’s gradual decline in the National Assembly — it won 77 seats in 2014 and 63 seats in 2019 out of 96.

While Nandi-Ndaitwah’s election is a landmark move for gender representation, Namibia is marred by high rates of sexual abuse and sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV). The United Nations Population Fund estimates that nearly a third of all women in Namibia have experienced physical violence from an intimate partner at some point in their lives.

A shallow victory for women
The award-winning intersectional activist Ndiilokelwa Nthengwe said Nandi-Ndaitwah’s appointment was “historic, but immaterial”. According to Nthengwe, Nandi-Ndaitwah does not have a track record that indicates that women in Namibia will benefit greatly from her presidency.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Kenya received sh198 million as treasure refund for troops fighting Al-shabaab from European union

The Europe Union has released Sh198 million to the Treasury as refund for Kenyan troops fighting Al-Shabaab militants in Somalia after a seven-month delay attributed to a verification hitch. Treasury documents show that Kenya received the money in September with the last refund coming in February in a reimbursement that is meant to happen quarterly. Kenya received Sh4.2 billion from the UN in the first seven months of last financial year against a claim of Sh6.4 billion, meaning the country is owed Sh2.2 billion. It expects to receive Sh6.4 billion in the year to June 2017. The Treasury did not explain the delay, but earlier reports in the BBC indicated that payments for the 22,000-strong African Union force (Amisom) were being withheld over “accounting issues”. Nearly 4,000 Kenyan soldiers are part of Amisom and the international community provides $1,028 (Sh103, 828) for each Amisom soldier each month; their respective governments then deduct about $200 (Sh20,200) for ...
Post a Comment
Read more

FBI Director James Comey revealed a new review of recently-discovered emails related to the FBI's previously-closed investigation into Hillary Clinton's use of a private server.

“I must be out of my mind to be following Bob Mueller,’’ Comey said in the 2013 White House Rose Garden ceremony. "I don't know if I can fill those shoes, but I know that, however I do, I will be standing truly on the shoulders of a giant." Indeed, Mueller’s tenure was widely credited with the post-9/11 transformation of the FBI from a largely reactive law enforcement institution to an intelligence-driven agency bent on preventing new terror strikes. And he did it by shunning the spotlight at virtually every opportunity. By contrast, Comey, 55,  has staked out a public profile that couldn’t be more different than his predecessor and the traditional confines of the office itself. He has bluntly acknowledged law enforcement’s fraught relationship with racial and ethnic communities in addresses at Georgetown University and Birmingham, Ala.,and has suggested that less-aggressive policing may be contributing to troubling spikes in violent crime in some parts ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Gwanda chakwamba dies

Chakuamba was one of the great politicians in Malawi, he had problems of heart before. Since his jovial and vocal political career dating way to the middle 1980s , Chakuamba has been a bonafide and controversial member of ‘big’ political parties like the Malawi Congress Party (MCP) , United Democratic Front (UDF) Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and was recently affiliated to former governing Peoples Party (PP) prior to the May 20 Tripartite elections .He was born on 4 April 1934. During the rule of President Hastings Kamuzu Banda, he held many cabinet positions and was Commander of the MCP youth group Malawi Young Pioneers. Known for his temperamental nature, Chakuamba was a fearless opponent of John Tembo. One account has it Tembo and Chakuamba squared up for a fist fight at Nasawa MYP Training Base where Dr. Banda was within minutes of arriving to inaugurate the 1976 Youth Week Rally. I n February 1980, Chakuamba was ‘charged’, ...
Post a Comment
Read more