Namibian President Hage Geingob on Saturday nominated Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah as the ruling SWAPO party’s sole candidate for next year’s elections.
Speaking to the party’s top body, the President urged party members to support Ms. Nandi-Ndaitwah when she launches official campaigns next year.
A woman, Nandi-Ndaitwah is the party’s deputy leader and the country’s current Deputy Prime Minister.
“The elections have taken place and we have results that we will have only one candidate, comrade Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, and we will campaign and we will have someone to lead us,” President Geingob said.
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He also urged SWAPO members not to form factions based on the results of the party’s nominations.
President Geingob is expected to step down next year after two terms. He was first elected in November 2014.
SWAPO has ruled Namibia since independence and remains the country’s largest political party.
But its popularity has waned recently due to dissatisfaction with rampant unemployment and corruption involving senior party officials.
In the last parliamentary elections in 2019, the party lost its two-thirds majority in parliament. It also lost control of large local authorities, including the capital Windhoek, the cities of Walvis Bay and Swakopmund, and several regional councils.
