Story by Oleen Ndori, Foreign Desk Editor
PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa has congratulated Namibia President-Elect Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah for winning elections held on the 27th of last month.
In a statement, President Mnangagwa, who is also the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Chairperson, said President-Elect Nandi-Ndaitwah’s victory reflects the trust and confidence the people of Namibia have in her leadership to safeguard her country’s liberation heritage and propel socio-economic transformation.
President Mnangagwa also assured the new Namibian leader of Zimbabwe’s readiness to deepen and broaden existing bilateral relations between the two countries for mutual benefit.
Official results released by the Namibia Electoral Commission reflect that Nandi-Ndaitwah won by more than 57 percent of votes cast, with her closest rival Panduleni Itula getting 26 percent.
Namibians also voted separately for the National Assembly and SWAPO won a majority, securing 51 of the 96 elected seats, while the IPC won 20 seats.
Nandi-Ndaitwah will become the third elected female president in Africa after Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia and Sahle-Work Zewde of Ethiopia.
President-elect Nandi-Ndaitwah also joins other African female presidents such as the current Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan who took over from the late president John Magufuli, Joyce Hilda Banda of Malawi and Burundi’s Slyvie Kiningi among others who served as Presidents of various African nations after vacuums arose owing to different circumstances in those countries.
