Results released early in the day on the election commission’s portal showed governing party candidate Nandi-Ndaitwah, 72 years old, leading the race with 54.82 percent of the vote out of the 65.57 percent of votes counted.
Results were initially expected a few days after the November 27 poll but were extended to November 29 and November 30 at several polling stations after some voters were unable to cast their ballots on election day due to technical difficulties.
Logistical and technical problems, including a shortage of ballot papers, led to long queues that meant some voters gave up on the first day of voting after waiting for up to 12 hours.
It was learnt the main opposition Independent Patriots for Change, whose candidate Panduleni Itula trails with 28 percent, has already rejected the election as a sham.
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The electoral commission disclosed that 73 percent of the nearly 1.5 million registered voters cast ballots, adding that the votes counted so far are for 79 of 121 constituencies, including two in the capital, Windhoek.
Currently, vice president Nandi-Ndaitwah of the South West Africa People’s Organisation, SWAPO, could be forced into a second-round run-off vote if she does not claim more than 50 percent of votes when all results are in later this week.
Namibians vote separately for members of the National Assembly, and with 66.4 percent of the votes tallied, SWAPO led the ballot with 56.38 percent. Independent Patriots for Change was running at 19.23 percent.
The opposition claimed the extension was illegal, undermining the vote in the Southern African country, which has a largely smooth history of elections and is praised as one of the region’s more stable democracies.
SWAPO has led the mineral-rich country of about three million people since leading it to independence from apartheid South Africa in 1990, youth unemployment and enduring inequalities have disenchanted younger voters.
Opposition leader, Itula said there were irregularities and no matter the result, the IPC will challenge the validity of the election in court.
The leader of the opposition Popular Democratic Movement and a candidate in the presidential election, McHenry Venaani, said they will join the case, stating the country cannot only work for those who want to remain in power by hook or crook.