Namibia to inaugurate its first woman president

WINDHOEK, Mar 21 (AFP): Southern Africa's desert nation of Namibia swears in its first woman president Friday after Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah won elections last year that extended the ruling party's 35-year grip on power.

Nandi-Ndaitwah (72) will become one of the few women leaders in the region when she is inaugurated at a ceremony to be attended by heads of states of neighbouring countries including Angola and South Africa.

Previously the vice president, she is a stalwart of the South West Africa People's Organisation (SWAPO) that led the sparsely populated and uranium-rich country to independence from apartheid South Africa in 1990.

Popularly known by her initials NNN, Nandi-Ndaitwah secured 58 per cent of the vote in the chaotic November elections, which were extended several times after logistical failures led to major delays.

The youthful opposition Independent Patriots for Change (IPC) mounted a strong challenge but took only 25.5 per cent of the vote, underscoring continued loyalty to SWAPO even as the popularity of other southern African liberation parties has waned.