Allexer Namundjebo
President-elect Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah will be sworn in as the country’s first female president on 21 March.
This historic event follows the Supreme Court’s dismissal of the legal challenge against the 2024 presidential election by the Independent Patriots for Change (IPC) and the Landless People’s Movement (LPM) on Friday.
The two parties jointly challenge the presidential election results in December 2024.
They argued that the extension of the voting period beyond the initial election date had rendered the polls unlawful.
Chief Justice Peter Shivute delivered the unanimous decision by a bench of justices of the Supreme Court that the extension was valid.
“The conclusion we come to is that Proclamation 34 of 2024 was lawfully enacted, and the voting that occurred on 29 and 30 November 2024 was valid and lawful. The applicants have therefore not made out a case for the invalidation of the impugned proclamation. Their challenge to the outcome of the 2024 presidential election therefore fails,’ said Shivute.
Nandi-Ndaitwah was declared the winner of the 2024 presidential elections with 57.31% of the vote, while Itula received 25.5% by the Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN).
IPC leader Panduleni Itula accepted the outcome of the Supreme Court.
“The Supreme Court of our country, our basic fundamental democratic institution, made that decision. As citizens, in terms of Article 81 of the constitution, we abide by the decision of the Supreme Court, which is binding on everyone,” he said.
LPM national spokesperson Lifalaza Simataa said that the party is concerned with the outcome of the election and the precedent this may set.
“Our team shall study the verdict and weigh the possible routes to take,” he said.
He added that the party still has one more case on the elections to focus on and does not intend on letting this outcome slow down their momentum.
The IPC and the LPM had another case in the Electoral Court of Namibia in December in which the two parties were seeking to nullify the results of the 2024 National Assembly elections.
The case, which was heard this year, was placed on hold on 16 January 2025 until the Supreme Court had decided a similar case about the 2024 presidential election.
SWAPO’s legal representative, Sisa Namandje, dismissed the opposition challenge as a predictable failure.
“We knew that this case was about somebody who was electorally bereaved because they lost an election. It was always going to fail,” he stated.
Political analyst Ndumba Kamwanyah said the Supreme Court’s judgement confirms the outcome of the 2024 presidential election and reinforces the role of the judiciary in settling election disputes.
“This decision strengthens the credibility of the electoral process and the authority of the Electoral Commission of Namibia in managing elections,” he said.
Kamwanyah added that the judgment is likely to impact the National Assembly elections case in the Electoral Court.
“The final decision will still depend on the specific arguments and evidence presented in that case,” Kamwanyah said.
According to him, the takeaway from this process is the maturity of Namibia’s democracy.
“Even with disagreements over the election results, parties chose to seek justice through legal channels rather than resorting to violence. This shows that the country’s institutions are functioning and that Namibians trust the courts to handle political disputes. It is a positive sign that democracy in Namibia is growing stronger,” Kamwanyah added.
