Justicia Shipena
Prime minister Elijah Ngurare says President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah should be allowed to serve her full two terms in office without distractions from early succession debates.
Ngurare’s remarks come as succession discussions intensify less than two years into Nandi-Ndaitwah’s first term.
Ngurare said Namibia’s presidents since independence have all served two constitutional terms and argued that Nandi-Ndaitwah deserves the same political space.
“Since independence in 1990, our successive presidents have uninterruptedly served their two terms as the Constitution dictates. Her Excellency Dr Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, President of the Swapo Party and Namibia, will serve her two terms, too,” he said this week on his social media.
Ngurare urged Namibians to focus on supporting Nandi-Ndaitwah’s administration and implementation of Swapo’s election promises under the sixth National Development Plan (NDP6).
He dismissed ongoing succession discussions as politically motivated attempts to weaken the administration before it fully settles into office.
“She is only in the second year of her first term, and some people are already undermining her by drawing her attention to useless debates about who should succeed her,” Ngurare said.
“These premature succession debates are deliberate. They are designed to sabotage service delivery and project failure at the end. Let us not fall into this cheap political trap.”
Ngurare described the debate as unnecessary at this stage of Nandi-Ndaitwah’s presidency.
“It is therefore premature and, indeed, childish to start a succession debate that will only take place in 2035 — eight years from now — when her second term ends. We must, therefore, all support her to fulfil the electoral mandate given to her by the Namibian people as outlined in NDP6. It is democratic to talk about anything, but logically the succession debate will only be relevant when her second term ends. Anything else now is just an irritating distraction. Now, it’s time for boots on the ground to deliver,” he said.
The comments have sparked a renewed debate about Swapo’s premature focus on political continuity before the administration has fully tested its delivery.
Praise politics
Political analyst Ndumba Kamwanyah said Ngurare’s remarks reflect a political culture common across many African governments, where senior officials often publicly defend leaders who appointed them.
“I am not surprised that PM Eliah Ngurare is already campaigning for President NNN to get another term. That is the political culture not only in Namibia, but across much of Africa. Senior leaders often feel compelled to defend and praise the person who appointed them. In many cases, loyalty matters more than honest public evaluation,” Kamwanyah said.
He argued that government performance should first be measured through results rather than political messaging.
“Ngurare’s remarks also sound premature. A government should first be judged by results, not slogans, symbolism, or public relations. So far, many Namibians are still waiting to see tangible improvements in key areas such as unemployment, cost of living, service delivery, corruption, and economic growth. The administration has been strong on messaging and visibility, but weaker on measurable outcomes that directly improve ordinary people’s lives,” he said.
Kamwanyah warned that early praise politics could weaken accountability.
“The danger is that officials fall into what many call ‘praise-singing’ politics, where leaders are celebrated long before they have fully delivered. That culture weakens accountability because criticism is treated as disloyalty instead of a necessary part of democracy,” he told the Windhoek Observer.
“At this stage, for me, calls for another term appear more political than performance-based. Whether NNN deserves another term should depend on what her administration achieves over the full mandate, not on early endorsements from loyal appointees. Right now, many citizens would argue that the government still has a lot to prove before talk of re-election campaigns becomes credible.”
Nandi-Ndaitwah’s administration continues reshaping government structures after her historic election as Namibia’s first woman president.
After taking office in March 2025, she reduced Cabinet ministries from 21 to 14 and appointed a Cabinet dominated by women, who now make up 57% of ministers. This month, she appointed Anne-Marie Nainda as acting inspector general of the Namibian Police Force after Joseph Shikongo was placed on a 12-month suspension.
Her administration has also aligned government programmes around Swapo’s 2025–2030 manifesto through NDP6.
This includes free public tertiary education from 2026, youth and SME loan schemes valued at about N$250 million, visa-on-arrival reforms, efforts to revive the national airline and the construction of sports stadiums across the country.
At the same time, some of her policy decisions have drawn criticism. Questions have been raised around the proposed oil legislation that places the Upstream Petroleum Unit under the presidency. The unit is headed by Kornelia Shilunga.
Critics have accused the administration of centralising power over the oil sector while also raising concerns about alleged family interests in the industry.
Her presidency also faced early controversy after medical doctors publicly accused health minister Esperance Luvindao of professional misconduct and questioned medical records linked to operations allegedly not performed. Calls were made for the minister’s dismissal shortly after she [Nandi-Ndaitwah] appointed Luvindao.
Internal Swapo fallout warning
Discussions about the party’s future leadership are already intensifying ahead of the 2027 elective congress, where the party will elect the party president, vice president, secretary general and deputy secretary general.
Two months ago, Swapo veteran Helmut Angula said Nandi-Ndaitwah is unlikely to face a serious challenge at the congress because the ruling party historically favours continuity at the top.
Political analyst Sakaria Johannes told the Windhoek Observer on Tuesday that Swapo’s historical trend also places Nandi-Ndaitwah in a strong position to secure another term as party president.
“I think from a historical perspective of Swapo, all the presidents of Swapo had two terms. And except for Sam Nujoma technically, we had three terms. But historically, she stands a chance to get that,” Johannes said.
He warned, however, that some of the president’s appointments and leadership changes may create internal resistance within the party.
“Looking at the dynamics now of Swapo, except that the challenge is that when she got into the office, the people that she appointed, she was a bit radical and might have posed some questions,” he said.
Johannes said Nandi-Ndaitwah shifted away from relying on older political figures by introducing younger leaders into government structures.
“If you look at it, she removed all the old people that we know, the old politicians, and she tried to put in the new blood or the young blood,” he said.
“Now the question is, is this not going to have an impact? Because it’s like she shifted on the culture of the party and how things have been done by the party to a new way of bringing in new blood that might affect her.”
Johannes also warned that Swapo’s internal congress politics could still produce new factions and fresh leadership battles.
“Mind you, each and every time Swapo is in congress, we always put a new party from Swapo. And exactly in the next congress that we are going to have, chances are that we are going again to have another party from Swapo,” he said.
He said Swapo’s declining electoral support adds another layer of political risk for the ruling party.
“Now looking at the party, Swapo have been losing; they recently lost the two-thirds majority. Now, if one faction gets out of Swapo, then this might affect Swapo in a negative way, and we are going to see them again going down in terms of votes,” Johannes said.
“And again, this is a critical time for Swapo as a party, as a revolutionary movement. Looking at Southern Africa, we have seen how revolutionary movements are going down. I think it might again lead to another negative impact.”
Johannes added that while Nandi-Ndaitwah appears politically prepared for another term, discussions around leadership and age will likely continue shaping internal debates inside Swapo.
“But to be ready, I think she’s ready, but we must also put the age question into perspective,” he said.
