Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah made historical past on March 21, 2025, as she was sworn in as Namibia’s first feminine president, reaching the head of management almost six a long time after becoming a member of the nation’s liberation motion.
At 72 years outdated, Nandi-Ndaitwah’s election in November 2024 positioned her amongst a choose group of feminine African leaders, following the likes of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia, Joyce Banda of Malawi, and Samia Suluhu Hassan of Tanzania.
Her inauguration, attended by regional leaders and former feminine heads of state, coincided with Namibia’s thirty fifth independence anniversary.
Nevertheless, attributable to heavy rains, the occasion was relocated from a stadium to the presidential workplace, the place she took her oath in entrance of visiting dignitaries from South Africa, Zambia, Congo, Botswana, Angola, and Kenya.
How it began
Born on October 29, 1952, in Onamutai, Namibia, Nandi-Ndaitwah’s political journey started at simply 14 years outdated when she joined the South West Africa Folks’s Group (SWAPO), the social gathering that led Namibia’s wrestle for independence from South Africa.
- Pressured into exile in 1973, she labored at SWAPO’s headquarters in Zambia and later pursued political and diplomatic research within the Soviet Union and the UK.
- Over time, she served as Namibia’s deputy prime minister from 2015 to 2024, minister of worldwide relations and cooperation.
- From 2012 to 2015, the minister of setting and tourism from 2010 to 2012, and minister of girls affairs and baby welfare from 2000 to 2005.
- In 2017, she turned the primary lady elected as SWAPO’s vp and later turned the social gathering’s first feminine presidential candidate in 2024.
Following the dying of President Hage Geingob in February 2024, she was appointed vp, serving briefly underneath performing President Nangolo Mbumba earlier than profitable the election.
What to know
As Namibia’s fifth president, Nandi-Ndaitwah has vowed to proceed strengthening the nation’s democracy and driving {economic} progress. In her inaugural handle, she emphasised the necessity to protect the good points of independence whereas guaranteeing {economic} and social development for all Namibians.
She has pledged to deal with boosting {economic} progress, enhancing social welfare, and enhancing Namibia’s function in regional and world diplomacy.
“The duty going through me because the fifth president of the Republic of Namibia is to protect the good points of our independence and be certain that the unfinished agenda of {economic} and social development is carried ahead with vigor and dedication,” she mentioned in her inaugural handle.
Her presidency comes at an important time for Namibia, because the nation navigates {economic} challenges, youth unemployment, and sustainable improvement objectives. She has positioned herself as a pacesetter dedicated to addressing these points with dedication and imaginative and prescient.
Her lifelong dedication to public service and governance has earned her a number of accolades, together with the Inter-Generational Management Award on the 2024 Nala Feminist Summit, the Thought Management Award on the Namibia Sustainable Growth Awards, and an honorary doctorate from the College of Dar es Salaam.
Married to Epaphras Denga Ndaitwah, former Chief of the Namibian Defence Drive, she stays a staunch advocate for girls’s empowerment, schooling, and neighborhood improvement.
