2024 Namibian general election
 | This article documents a current election. Information may change rapidly as the election progresses until official results have been published. Initial news reports may be unreliable, and the last updates to this article may not reflect the most current information. |
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96 of the 104 seats in the National Assembly 53 seats needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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General elections are being held in Namibia to elect a new president and members of the National Assembly.[1][2][3] They were the country's seventh general elections since gaining independence from apartheid South Africa in 1990.
Background
[edit]Outgoing president Hage Geingob died on 4 February 2024 while receiving treatment for cancer and was replaced by his Vice President, Nangolo Mbumba, who will serve out the remainder of his term, which expires on 21 March 2025.[4] Mbumba has announced that he has no intention of running for president.
In 2019, the ruling SWAPO party received 56% of the vote, down from 87% in 2014. SWAPO, which gained its base fighting against apartheid in 1990, is seemingly losing support among youth voters, who are dissatisfied with low employment rates. The current unemployment rate is around 20%.[5][6]
Prior to the election, online misinformation campaigns targeted various candidates. These campaigns included false allegations of opposition candidate Panduleni Itula being a "British agent"; purported footage of another opposition candidate, Bernadus Swartbooi, making tribalist statements towards Itula; and an artificially-generated image of SWAPO candidate Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah fainting at a rally. Various politicians accused the ZANU–PF of spreading false information.[7]
Electoral system
[edit]The President of Namibia is elected using the two-round system; if no candidate receives more than 50% in the first round of voting, a run-off will be held. No previous presidential votes in Namibia have gone to a second round.[8]
The 104 members of the National Assembly consist of 96 elected members and eight (non-voting) members appointed by the President.[9] The 96 elected members are elected by closed list proportional representation from one nationwide constituency. Seats are allocated using the largest remainder method.[10]
Presidential candidates
[edit]As President Geingob was ineligible for re-election after having served two consecutive terms, he selected deputy prime minister Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah to run for president as a candidate of his party, the South West Africa People's Organisation (SWAPO), of which she is also vice president, in 2023.[11] Upon Geingob's death, she was appointed vice president by President Mbumba. If she wins the election, she would be the first female president of Namibia.[12][6]
Fourteen others are also running for president in the election.[13] These include 2019 presidential candidate Panduleni Itula of the Independent Patriots for Change (IPC), the main opposition candidate, Popular Democratic Movement (PDM) leader McHenry Venaani, former deputy minister Bernadus Swartbooi of the Landless People’s Movement (LPM), and former Windhoek mayor Job Amupanda of Affirmative Repositioning (AR).[5]
Conduct
[edit]Voting was marred by logistical and technical problems such as malfunctioning voter identification tablets and insufficient ballot papers, causing long queues and the extension of voting hours by the Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) until 28 November. The IPC accused the ECN of "deliberately suppressing voters and deliberately trying to frustrate voters from casting their vote".[14] Following complaints from opposition parties, the ECN announced a further extension of voting hours for November 29 and 30 at selected polling locations in Windhoek as well as in the Kunene, Oshana and Oshikoto regions.[15] Representatives of IPC, PDM and AR expressed dissatisfaction with the limited selection of polling locations for the voting extension.[16]
Results
[edit]President
[edit]| Candidate | Party | |
|---|---|---|
| Job Amupanda | Affirmative Repositioning | |
| Vaino Amuthenu | Congress of Democrats | |
| Hendrik Gaobaeb | United Democratic Front | |
| Panduleni Itula | Independent Patriots for Change | |
| Evilastus Kaaronda | SWANU | |
| Mike Kavekotora | Rally for Democracy and Progress | |
| Ambrosius Kumbwa | All People's Party | |
| Sakaria Likuwa | United Namibians Party | |
| Henk Mudge | Republican Party | |
| Epafras Mukwiilongo | Namibian Economic Freedom Fighters | |
| Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah | SWAPO | |
| Erastus Shuumbwa | Action Democratic Movement Party | |
| Bernadus Swartbooi | Landless People's Movement | |
| Festus Thomas | Body of Christ Party | |
| McHenry Venaani | Popular Democratic Movement | |
| Total | ||
National Assembly
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Matthys, Donald (2024-03-08). "ECN releases timetable for 27 November elections". The Namibian. Retrieved 2024-04-20.
- ^ "Namibia's 2024 general elections slated for November 27". APAnews - African Press Agency. 2024-03-07. Retrieved 2024-04-20.
- ^ Matthys, Donald (2024-03-07). "Namibia votes on 27 November". The Namibian. Retrieved 2024-04-20.
- ^ "Namibian President Hage Geingob dies in a hospital where he was receiving treatment, his office says". Associated Press. 4 February 2024.
- ^ a b "Main candidates in Namibia's presidential election". CNBC. 26 November 2024.
- ^ a b Nyaungwa, Nyasha (25 November 2024). "Namibia to vote in toughest election yet for ruling party". Reuters. Retrieved 26 November 2024.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "Namibia Fact Check Warns of Foreign Influence and Smear Campaigns Targeting Itula Ahead of Elections". The Namibian. 2024-11-26. Retrieved 2024-11-26.
- ^ "Namibia's Ruling Party Faces Unexpectedly Challenging Vote". The New York Times. Associated Press. 24 November 2019.
- ^ The Three Branches of Government Hanns Seidel Foundation
- ^ Electoral system IPU
- ^ "Namibia: President names Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah woman successor". Africanews. 13 March 2023.
- ^ "Hage Geingob: Namibia's president dies aged 82". BBC. 4 February 2024.
- ^ "Is Namibia going to elect its first female leader?". BBC. 26 November 2024.
- ^ "Namibia extends voting after logistical issues". France 24. 28 November 2024.
- ^ "VOTING CONTINUES". Facebook - The Namibian. 2024-11-28. Archived from the original on 2024-11-28. Retrieved 2024-11-28.
- ^ Petersen, Shelleygan; Namene, John-Colin (2024-11-28). "Selected polling stations not solving problem – opposition parties". The Namibian. Retrieved 2024-11-28.
