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Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah

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Her Excellency
Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah
MP
Nandi-Ndaitwah in 2022
President-elect of Namibia
Assuming office
21 March 2025
SucceedingNangolo Mbumba
3rd Vice President of Namibia
Incumbent
Assumed office
4 February 2024
PresidentNangolo Mbumba
Preceded byNangolo Mbumba
Deputy-Prime Minister of Namibia
In office
21 March 2015 – 4 February 2024
Prime MinisterSaara Kuugongelwa
Preceded byMarco Hausiku
Succeeded byJohn Mutorwa
Minister of International Relations and Cooperation
In office
4 December 2012 – 4 February 2024
Prime Minister
Preceded byUtoni Nujoma
Succeeded byPeya Mushelenga
Minister of Environment and Tourism
In office
21 March 2010 – 4 December 2012
Prime MinisterNahas Angula
Preceded byWillem Konjore
Succeeded byUahekua Herunga
Minister of Information and Broadcasting
In office
2005–2010
Prime MinisterNahas Angula
Preceded byNangolo Mbumba
Succeeded byJoel Kaapanda
Minister of Women Affairs and Child Welfare
In office
2000–2005
Prime MinisterHage Geingob
Preceded byposition established
Succeeded byMarlene Mungunda
Director General of Women Affairs
In office
1996–2000
Prime MinisterHage Geingob
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office
21 March 1990 – 21 March 1996
Prime MinisterHage Geingob
Personal details
Born
Netumbo Nandi

(1952-10-29) 29 October 1952 (age 72)
Onamutai, South West Africa (now Namibia)
NationalityNamibian
Political partySWAPO
SpouseEpaphras Denga Ndaitwah
Alma materKeele University
Glasgow Caledonian University
OccupationPolitician

Ndemupelila Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah (born 29 October 1952), nicknamed NNN,[1][2] is a Namibian politician who became president-elect of Namibia after winning the presidential election on 3 December 2024.[3] She is scheduled to be Namibia's fifth president and the first woman to hold this position.[4] She is serving as third vice-president of Namibia since February 2024. She was also SWAPO's first female presidential candidate for the 2024 Namibian general election. In 2017, Nandi-Ndaitwah was elected vice-president of SWAPO, the first woman to serve in that position.

Nandi-Ndaitwah previously served as the deputy prime minister of Namibia from 2015 to 2024, minister of International Relations and Cooperation from December 2012 to 2015, and as minister of Environment and Tourism from March 2010 to December 2012. She is a long-time member of the National Assembly.

Early life and education

Netumbo Nandi was born on 29 October 1952 to Justina Nekoto Shaduka-Nandi and Petrus Nandi at Onamutai, South West Africa (today near the border of Ohangwena Region and Oshana Region, Namibia).[5] Her father was an Anglican clergyman. She was the ninth of 13 children.[6] Ndaitwah was educated at St. Mary's Mission in Odibo.[7]

Nandi-Ndaitwah went into exile in 1974 and joined SWAPO members in Zambia. She worked at the SWAPO headquarters in Lusaka from 1974 to 1975 and attended a course at the Lenin Higher Komsomol School in the Soviet Union from 1975 until 1976. She graduated with a diploma in the work and practice of the communist youth movement. In 1987 she obtained a post-graduate diploma in public administration and management from the Glasgow College of Technology, in the United Kingdom, and in 1988 a further post-graduate diploma, in international relations, from Keele University, also in the UK. In 1989 Nandi-Ndaitwah obtained a master's degree in diplomatic studies, also from Keele University.[8]

Political career

Nandi-Ndaitwah became the SWAPO deputy representative in Zambia from 1976 until 1978 and the chief representative in Zambia from 1978 to 1980. From 1980 until 1986, she was the SWAPO chief representative in East Africa, based at Dar es Salaam. She was a member of the SWAPO central committee from 1976 to 1986 and the Namibian National Women's Organisation (NANAWO) president from 1991 to 1994.[8]

She has been a member of the National Assembly of Namibia since 1990. She was deputy Minister of International Relations and Cooperation from 1990 to 1996 and first gained ministerial status in 1996 as director-general of Women's Affairs in the Office of the President, where she served until 2000. In 2000 she was promoted to minister and given the Women Affairs and Child Welfare portfolio.[9]

Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah in 2015

From 2005 to 2010, she was the Minister of Information and Broadcasting in Namibia's cabinet. She subsequently served as Minister of Environment and Tourism until a major cabinet reshuffle in December 2012, in which she was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs,[10] a portfolio since renamed to International Relations and Cooperation.

Under President Hage Geingob, Nandi-Ndaitwah was appointed as Deputy-Prime Minister of Namibia in March 2015, while serving in parallel as Minister of International Relations and Cooperation.[11] Nandi-Ndaitwah sits both on SWAPO's central committee and the politburo. She is also the party's secretary for information and mobilisation and as such, is one of SWAPO's main spokespeople.[8][12]

In March 2023, President Geingob named Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah as SWAPO's presidential candidate in the 2024 Namibian general election.[13] Following Geingob's death in February 2024, Nandi-Ndaitwah was appointed vice president, succeeding Nangolo Mbumba who became president. She is the first woman serving in that role.[14][15] She was elected president in the general election held in November, making her the first woman to hold the position.[16]

On 3 December 2024, she was officially declared the President-elect of the Republic of Namibia. Nandi-Ndaitwah received 683,560 votes (58.7%), making her the first woman to win a Namibian Presidential election. [17] She will be inaugurated on 21 March 2025 and will become the first female President in Namibian history. [18]

Personal life

Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah is married to Epaphras Denga Ndaitwah, former Chief of the Namibian Defence Force.[8] She is interested in children's community work and reading.[12]

Awards

Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah was awarded the 'thought leadership' at the Namibia Sustainable Development Awards.[19] Nandi-Ndaitwah was recognized with an Inter-Generational Leadership Award at the 2024 Nala Feminist (Nalafem) Summit.[20] She further holds an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.[21]

See also

References

  1. ^ Mumbuu, Edward (16 November 2022). "SWAPO Braces for Vote Showdown". New Era Live.
  2. ^ "Naimibia Elects Its First Woman President". CBS News. 4 December 2024.
  3. ^ "Namibia will have its first female leader after the VP wins presidential election for ruling party". KTALnews.com. 3 December 2024. Retrieved 3 December 2024.
  4. ^ Namene, John-Colin (4 December 2024). "Nandi-Ndaitwah elected as Namibia's first woman president". The Namibian. Retrieved 4 December 2024.
  5. ^ "Nandi-Ndaitwah's moment of truth". The Namibian. 14 April 2022. Archived from the original on 6 January 2024. Retrieved 30 November 2024.
  6. ^ Mongudhi, Tileni (21 April 2023). "Nandi-Ndaitwah's moment of truth". The Namibian. Archived from the original on 7 October 2024. Retrieved 25 November 2024.
  7. ^ Dierks, Klaus. "Biographies of Namibian Personalities, N". klausdierks.com. Archived from the original on 20 September 2023. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
  8. ^ a b c d Hopwood, Graham. "Who's Who, entry for Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah". Namibia Institute for Democracy. Archived from the original on 11 June 2011. Retrieved 8 January 2014.
  9. ^ "Nandi-Ndaitwah Netumbo". Parliament of Namibia. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
  10. ^ Shipanga, Selma; Immanuel, Shinovene (5 December 2012). "Transition team picked". The Namibian. Archived from the original on 28 December 2013. Retrieved 27 December 2013.
  11. ^ "Geingob announces Cabinet". The Namibian. 20 March 2015.
  12. ^ a b "Nandi-Ndaitwah Netumbo". Namibian Parliament. Retrieved 13 February 2023.
  13. ^ "Namibia: President Geingob Names Nandi-Ndaitwah Woman Successor". The Heritage Times. 13 March 2023.
  14. ^ "Nangolo Mbumba Sworn In as Namibia's Interim President". Voice of America. 5 February 2024.
  15. ^ "Nangolo Mbumba sworn in as Namibia's fourth President". The Star Kenya. Retrieved 4 February 2024.
  16. ^ "Namibia will have its first female leader after VP wins presidential election for the ruling party". Associated Press. 4 December 2024.
  17. ^ "2024 Presidential elections". elections.my.na.
  18. ^ "Namibia elects Nandi-Ndaitwah as first female president". Reuters.
  19. ^ Mukokobi, Pricilla (21 June 2024). "Namibia: VP Recognised for Environmental Contribution". New Era. Archived from the original on 3 September 2024. Retrieved 3 September 2024.
  20. ^ "VP Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah receives inter-generational leadership award". nbcnews.na. Archived from the original on 2 July 2024. Retrieved 23 November 2024.
  21. ^ "Nandi-Ndaitwah awarded honorary doctorate by University of Dar es Salaam". nbcnews.na. Retrieved 23 November 2024.
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