WINDHOEK – Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah has secured her place as Namibia’s first female president with 57 percent of the vote, though opposition parties are contesting the election’s legitimacy following widespread voting disruptions.

The electoral commission declared the 72-year-old SWAPO candidate winner on Tuesday, extending her party’s 34-year grip on power since Namibia’s 1990 independence from apartheid South Africa.

“The Namibian nation has voted for peace and stability,” Nandi-Ndaitwah said after her victory announcement, while main opposition candidate Panduleni Itula of the Independent Patriots for Change (IPC) secured 25.5 percent of votes.

Opposition parties plan legal challenges after technical problems, including ballot paper shortages, forced officials to extend voting through Saturday. Some voters abandoned polling stations after 12-hour waits.

“The rule of law has been grossly violated and we cannot call these elections by any means or measure as free, fair and legitimate,” Itula declared Saturday.

Nandi-Ndaitwah, who became vice president in February following President Hage Geingob’s death, brings extensive political experience, having served in various ministerial roles since joining parliament in 1990 after participating in the independence movement.

SWAPO’s continued dominance comes despite growing youth dissatisfaction over unemployment and persistent economic inequalities in the southern African nation.