Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah has been announced as the sole candidate for the Swapo party in next year’s elections by Namibian President Hage Geingob on Saturday.
The president urged party members to back Ms. Nandi-Ndaitwah when official campaigns get off the next year in remarks to the party’s highest organ.
While serving as the nation’s deputy prime minister, Ms. Nandi-Ndaitwah is the party’s vice president.
“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 said.
He also called on Swapo members not to create factions from the outcome of the party nominations.
President Geingob is due to step down next year after serving two terms. He was first elected in November 2014.
Swapo has led Namibia since independence and remains the country’s biggest political party.
But 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.