Namibia's First Female President

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"It's not going to be business as usual. We must have radical shifts in addressing the plight of our people."- Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah. Namibia is one of 54 countries on the continent of Africa. Namibia is located on the southwestern coast of Africa. It is bordered by Angola to the north, Zambia to the northeast, Botswana to the east, South Africa to the southeast and south, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. Namibia has enjoyed stability since gaining independence in 1990 after a long struggle against rule by South Africa. Of note, Germany took control of the area which it called South West Africa in the late 1800s. Interestingly, the discovery of diamonds in 1908 prompted an influx of Europeans. South Africa seized it during the First World War and administered it under a League of Nations mandate. The capital of Namibia is Windhoek and the country has a population of almost 3 million people.
Who Is Nandi Ndaitwah? . Nicknamed NNN, Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah has made history by being elected as Namibia's first woman president. Born on 29 October 1952 in Onamutai village, Oshana region (the northern part of the country), Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah was one of 13 children raised by her mother Justina Nekoto Nandi and her father Petrus Nandi, a reverend of the Anglican Church. She attended the St Mary’s mission school in Odibo. The 72-year-old current vice president was considered the favorite before the vote, representing the party that has dominated Namibian politics since the former German colony's independence from South Africa in 1990. Nandi-Ndaitwah has been a loyal member of the governing party, Swapo, since she was a teenager and pledges to lead Namibia's economic transformation. Nandi-Ndaitwah joined Swapo, then a liberation movement resisting South Africa's white-minority rule, when she was only 14. While still a high school student, Nandi-Ndaitwah was arrested and detained during a crackdown on Swapo activists. As a result of this persecution, she decided she could not stay in the country and joined several other Swapo members in exile. Ndaitwah’s determination as a freedom fighter is shown in the fact that she continued to organize with the movement while in Zambia and Tanzania, before moving to the United Kingdom to pursue her studies. She has a master’s degree in Diplomatic Studies, a Post-Graduate Diploma in International Relations from Keele University, UK. She has held a variety of posts, including ministerial roles in foreign affairs, tourism, child welfare and information. Nandi-Ndaitwah became known as an advocate for women's rights. In one of her key achievements, she pushed the Combating of Domestic Violence Act through the National Assembly in 2002. Interestingly, she continued to rise despite Namibia's traditional and male-dominated political culture, and in February this year she became vice-president. She won more than 57% of the vote, with her closest rival, Panduleni Itula, getting 26%, according to the electoral commission. The president is married to Epaphras Ndaitwah, who was a leading figure in Swapo’s armed wing People’s Liberation Army of Namibia. The couple has three sons. In the words of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, women belong in all places where decisions are being made. Wayne Campbell is an educator and social commentator with an interest in development policies as they affect culture and or gender issues. waykam@yahoo.com @WayneCamo © #Namibia #NetumboNandiNdaitwah

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