Swapo’s Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah has been elected as the country’s first female president

Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah of the ruling South West African People’s Organization (Swapo) has been elected Namibia’s first president following last week’s disputed election.

The Electoral Commission announced that she had won more than 57% of the votes, while her nearest rival, Panduleni Itula, had 26%.

After logistical problems and the extension of polling stations by three days in some parts of the country, Itula said the election process was “deeply flawed”, according to the Reuters news agency.

His Independent Patriots for Change (IPC) party said it would challenge the results in court.

Most opposition parties boycotted the announcement of the results on Tuesday evening in the capital Windhoek, a Namibian newspaper reported.

Windhoek is reported to be peaceful on Wednesday, with no celebrations or protests.

After announcing his victory, Nandi Ndaitwa said: “The Namibian people have voted for peace and stability.”

Swapo has been in power in the large but sparsely populated southern African country since independence in 1990.

Party stalwart Nandi-Ndaitwah, who is currently the vice president, is a trusted leader who has served a quarter of a century in high government office.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa congratulated Nandi-Ndaitwah X on Wednesday.

“Your election as the fifth President of the Republic and the first woman in our region to hold this high office is a testament to democracy and its ability to transform our society,” he said in a statement.

After being sworn in, she will join an exclusive club as Tanzania’s Samia Suluhu Hassan is currently the only female African president.

In parliamentary elections held at the same time, Swapo narrowly held onto its majority, winning 51 of the 96 elected seats – a loss of 12. The IPC won 20 seats and will be the official opposition.

Tirivangani Masawi, a political journalist from Windhoek, said: BBC Newsday programme the election was Swapo’s “worst performance since independence”.

An educated dentist, Itula is seen as more charismatic than Nandi-Ndaitwah and managed to dent Swapo’s popularity in the last presidential election in 2019, reducing its vote share to 56% from 87% five years earlier.

The IPC said it would “seek justice in court” and has urged people who felt they were unable to vote due to electoral commission mismanagement to go to the police to make a statement.

The Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) acknowledged failures in the organization of votes and the lack of ballot papers.

Swapo led the struggle for statehood against apartheid South Africa. Before last Wednesday’s general election, there was speculation that it would suffer the fate of other liberation parties in the region.

South Africa’s African National Congress lost its outright parliamentary majority in May, and the Botswana Democratic Party was ousted from power after nearly six decades following elections in October.