Oil and gas-rich Namibia is set to have its first female head of state after Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwa of the ruling SWAPO party won the presidential election. However, her main rival, Panduleni Itula of the Independent Patriots for Change (IPC),

Across southern Africa, political parties that have led their countries since the end of colonialism have ceded power to the opposition in recent months. Namibia bucked the trend.

Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah of the South West Africa People's Organisation (SWAPO) has been elected as the first female president of Namibia.

Namibia's ruling party appeared set for election victory with more than 90 percent of votes counted Tuesday, lining the southern African country up for its first woman president after a disputed vote that the main opposition has rejected as a sham.

Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, from the governing South West Africa People's Organisation (Swapo), has been voted in as Namibia's first female president after last week's disputed election. The electoral commission said she had won more than 57% of the votes cast, with her closest rival Panduleni Itula getting 26%.

Namibia’s ruling party presidential candidate leads in early results of an election characterized by technical problems which caused voting to be extended for three days

Namibia’s ruling party held onto power despite its worst-ever electoral showing as its candidate Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah became the first woman to win the presidency in the sparsely populated southwest African nation.

Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah won with 57% of the vote, according to official results, defying predictions that she might be forced into a runoff.