Affirmative Action refers to proactive measures taken by organisations or governments to ensure equal opportunity for historically marginalised groups. It aims to address past and present discrimination by implementing policies that promote diversity and inclusion… – The Oxford Review

The saying: “What a man can do, a woman can do better,” may be considered a cliché. But Namibia is set to prove doubters wrong, at least as far as gender mainstreaming is concerned.

Namibia’s newly elected President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah was sworn in as the country’s first female president on Friday 22nd March 2025, with fellow women Lucia Witbooi as Vice President and Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila as Speaker of the National Assembly – to complete the female triumvirate that will pilot the affairs of state in a largely patriarchal African continent.

Kuugongelwa-Amadhila is the first woman to hold the position of the third most powerful citizen in Namibia, next to President Nandi-Ndaitwah and her deputy, Witbooi, the second woman to serve as the country’s vice President.

As if this were not enough, Nandi-Ndaitwah’s 14-member cabinet has eight women.

The unprecedented gender shift followed the death of President Hage Geingob, whom Nandi-Ndaitwah succeeded on 24th February 2025.

A popular gender activist herself, Nandi-Ndaitwah, 72, however, believes that ability is critical to effective performance in leadership positions.

“As women, we should not ask to be elected to positions of responsibility because we are women, but because we are capable members of our societies to hold those positions,” she affirmed.

Addressing parliament after her inauguration, she reminded the MPs that while they might have been “elected on the tickets of our respective political parties, we have assumed the responsibility to represent all Namibian people without any discrimination.”

“The task facing me as the fifth president of the Republic of Namibia is to preserve the gains of our independence on all fronts and to ensure that the unfinished agenda of economic and social advancement of our people is carried forward with vigour and determination to bring about shared, balanced prosperity for all,” the new president pledged.

President Nandi-Ndaitwah’s major decisions since her inauguration include reducing the Cabinet size from 21 to 14 and restructuring government ministries and agencies.

Erica Shafudah is named Minister of Finance, Lucia Iipumbu, Minister of Home Affairs, Immigration, Safety, and Security, and Selma Ashipala-Musavyi, International Relations. The three are women.

Elijah Ngurare is the new Prime Minister, while Natangwe Ithete, also a man, will serve as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Mines and Energy.

Under the new government structure, the oil and gas sectors are now under the Office of the President, and the Ministry of International Relations and Cooperation will handle the trade portfolio, to strengthen economic diplomacy.

Describing poverty eradication as cross-cutting, President Nandi-Ndaitwah, daughter of a clergyman, directed all government ministries to implement programmes to support socio-economic development.

Responsibilities for disabled persons and marginalised groups now fall under the Office of the vice-President and Labour Relations are to be handled by the Justice Ministry and a yet-to-be-named public entity will manage government properties and assets.

Social Grants will move to the Ministry of Finance and Public Enterprises, while the Fisheries and Marine Resources Ministry is to merge with the Ministry of Agriculture, Water, and Land Reform.

The Education Ministry will also oversee Arts, Sport, and Culture, and the Ministry of Industrialisation is combined with the Ministry of Mines and Energy to boost industrial growth, especially in mining.

President Nandi-Ndaitwah, nicknamed “NNN,” an MP since Namibia’s independence in 1990, became politically active at age 14.

She became the leader of the Youth Wing of the Southwest Africa People’s Organisation (SWAPO), which led the struggle for the country’s liberation from apartheid South Africa.

Nandi-Ndaitwal was Namibia’s National Women’s Organisation (NANAWO) president from 1991 to 1994 and became SWAPO President in 2024.

In 1973, she was forced into political exile in neighbouring Zambia and proceeded to then-Soviet Union and later the United Kingdom, to continue her education in public administration and management.

In 1988, Nandi-Ndaitwah obtained a post-graduate diploma in International Relations from Keele University, UK, and a master’s degree in diplomatic studies from the same University.

She became Namibia’s third vice-President under President Nangolo Mbumba from 2024 to 2025 after serving as Deputy Prime Minister from 2015 to 2024 and Minister of Foreign Affairs, later renamed International Relations and Cooperation Ministry from 2012 to 2015, and Minister of Environment and Tourism from 2010 to 2012.

Nandi-Ndaitwah served as Deputy Minister of International Relations and Cooperation from 1990 to 1996, later Director-General of Women’s Affairs in the Office of the President, until 2000 when she was promoted to Minister of Women’s Affairs and Child Welfare.

She was SWAPO’s Deputy Representative in Zambia, from 1976 to 1978, Chief Representative in Zambia from 1978 to 1980, and from 1980 to 1986, the SWAPO Chief Representative in East Africa, based in the Zambian capital, Dar es Salaam.
In 2017, Nandi-Ndaitwah was elected SWAPO’s vice-president, the first woman in that capacity.

Under President Geingob, Nandi-Ndaitwah was Deputy Prime Minister from March 2015, and she combined that role with that of the International Relations and Cooperation portfolio and SWAPO’s Secretary for Information and Mobilisation, making her the party’s main spokesperson.

In March 2023, President Geingob named her, SWAPO’s presidential candidate in the 2024 Namibian general elections.

On 3 December 2024, Nandi-Ndaitwah was officially declared the President-elect with 58.7% of the vote, defeating two political rivals Panduleni Itula and McHenry Venaani.

She is Africa’s fourth female President following in the footsteps of Liberia’s Nobel Laureate Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, Joyce Banda of Malawi and Samia Suluhu Hassan of Tanzania.

Her victory extends SWAPO’s 35-year hold on power in Namibia, whose founding/liberation President Sam Nujoma died earlier this year at age 95.

Nandi-Ndaitwah succeeded Nangolo Mbumba, who stood in as president from February 2024 following the death of President Geingob, which led to her promotion to vice-President.

Married to Namibia’s former Chief of Defence Force, retired Lt.-Gen. Epaphras Denga Ndaitwah, the new president and her women-dominated administration face the challenge of proving that beyond their exemplary roles as home builders and resource managers, women can also out-perform their male counterparts in political governance.

Namibia’s 1325 National Action Plans  (NAP), builds on the country’s National Gender Policy, developed as complementary to other mechanisms and frameworks to advance women’s rights. The overarching goal of the NAP is to create “a safe and peaceful Namibia where all women, men, girls and boys have equal rights and live without fear or want and in dignity”
Namibia is expected to address other aspects of inclusiveness in governance to involve Persons with Disability (PWDs) and other marginalised groups.

But from the composition of Nandi-Ndaitwah’s cabinet, the Southern African nation with a relatively small population estimated at three million is making a strong statement to bigger countries in the advanced and developing World about the values and merits of diversity and Affirmative action.

Equal treatment of, and opportunities to persons irrespective of gender, race, religion, tribe/ethnic considerations, appearance or social standing will not only engender peaceful co-existence but also promote human development and progress.

Paul Ejime Is A Media And Communications Specialist And Global Affairs Analyst