Namibia 'awaits' female president as powerful ruling party picks candidate for 2024 vote

Namibians will likely have a female president after polls scheduled for next year.

President Hage Geingob over the weekend named Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah as his successor on the ballot paper.

Ms Nandi- Ndaitwah is the party's vice-president and the country's current deputy prime minister.

Netumbo will thus become the sole candidate for the ruling Swapo party during the polls.

“Elections took place, we have the results that we are going to have one candidate only, that will be comrade Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah and we will campaign and we have a person who will lead us," President Geingob told party faithful at a meeting.

Swapo has been the ruling party of the southern African country since independence. President Geingob is due to step down next year after serving two terms. He was first elected in November 2014.

Despite being the country's biggest political group, its popularity has recently waned because of discontent over rampant unemployment and corruption linked to senior party officials.

The party lost its two-thirds majority in parliament in the last general election in 2019. It also lost control of key municipalities, including the capital Windhoek, the port towns of Walvis Bay and Swakopmund, and several regional councils, the BBC Africa LIVE page noted.