Namibia's ruling SWAPO party was declared winner Tuesday of last week's disputed elections, ushering in the southern African country's first woman president after a disputed vote that the main opposition has already said it does not recognise. Vice-President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah took just over 57 percent of ballots followed by the candidate for the main opposition Independent Patriots for Change (IPC) with 25.5 percent, the election authority announced. Nandi-Ndaitwah, 72, becomes the first woman to rule the mineral-rich southern African country that has been governed by the South West Africa People's Organisation (SWAPO) since independence from apartheid South Africa in 1990. The November 27 election was a test of SWAPO's 34-year grip on power, with the IPC attracting some support from younger generations more concerned by unemployment and inequality than loyalty to liberation-era parties. Voting was extended to November 30 after logistical and technical problems, including a shortage of ballot papers, led to long queues. Some voters gave up on the first day of voting after waiting for up to 12 hours. The IPC said this was a deliberate attempt to frustrate voters and it would not accept the results. Its presidential candidate Panduleni Itula, 67, said last week there were a «multitude of irregularities». The «IPC shall not recognise the outcome of that election», he said on Saturday, the last day of the extended vote. The party would «fight... to nullify the elections through the processes that are established within our electoral process», he said. In reaction to Tuesday's announcement of the SWAPO victory, IPC spokesperson Imms Nashinge said the party maintained this position. Itula last week called on his party's supporters to be calm but also «stand firm to ensure that we shall not be robbed neither denied our democratic right to choose our leaders.» An organisation of southern African human rights lawyers serving as election monitors also said the delays at the ballot box were intentional and widespread. - Failures - The Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) admitted to failures in the organisation of the vote, including a shortage of ballot papers and the overheating of electronic tablets used to register voters. Of the nearly 1.5 million registered voters in the sparsely populated country, nearly 77 percent had cast ballots in the presidential vote, it said Tuesday. «Fellow Namibians, elections are competitive by nature, but democracy calls upon us to unite once the votes have been counted. I urge all Namibians to embrace the results with the spirit of unity, diversity, understanding and reconciliation,» said ECN chairperson Elsie Nghikembua after announcing the results. SWAPO also had a clean sweep of the concurrent national assembly election, taking 51 seats compared to 20 for the IPC. SWAPO's tally was down from its 63 seats in the previous assembly. The election was seen as a key test for SWAPO after other liberation-era movements in the region have lost favour with young voters including with the Botswana Democratic Party being ousted from power of that country last month after almost six decades. Namibia is a major uranium and diamond exporter but analysts say not many of its nearly three million people have benefited from that wealth in terms of improved infrastructure and job opportunities. Unemployment among 15- to 34-year-olds is estimated at 46 percent, according to the latest official figures from 2018, which is almost triple the national average. Nandi-Ndaitwah, a SWAPO stalwart known by her initials NNN, will be among the few women leaders on the continent. The conservative daughter of an Anglican pastor, she became vice president in February this year. Recognisable by her gold-framed glasses, she has tried to vaunt the wisdom of her years during the campaign where she was often wearing blue, red and green, the colours of her party and of the national flag. Among her election promises, NNN said she intends to «create jobs by attracting investments using economic diplomacy.» © Agence France-Presse  

A historic drought across southern Africa has jeopardised access to food for 26 million people, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) warned Wednesday, calling for urgent funding. The crisis, worsened by the 2023-2024 El Nino climate phenomenon, is expected to deepen until at least the next harvests due in March or April next year. «Today we have up to 26 million people facing acute food insecurity in the region and this is because of El Nino induced drought,» said Eric Perdison, regional director for southern Africa at the WFP. The seven worst affected nations were Angola, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe, Perdison added. Those need an additional $300 million to prevent access to sufficient, nutritious and affordable food worsening further, risking widespread hunger, according to the WFP. Five countries -- Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe -- have declared a state of national emergency in the past months as the drought has destroyed scores of crops and livestock. In many places, farmers who would normally be planting seeds at this time of the year, were not able to do so. «If you travel across the country, you will see almost all empty fields... The situation is really really dire,» said the WFP's country director in Mozambique, Antonella D'Aprile. «Communities have very little or almost nothing to eat,» she said, adding that «thousands of families are literally surviving on just one meal» a day. Assistance «cannot wait,» warned D'Aprile. «The time to support is really now.»  - 'Brink' of hunger - In neighbouring Malawi, the WFP said it has had to import food to provide assistance due to the shortages. «Nearly half the maize crops were damaged by El Nino drought earlier this year,» said the group's representative in the country, Paul Turnbull. Families were facing grim choices, he said: «Skipping meals; adults not eating so their children can eat; withdrawing children from school; and selling anything they have of value.» Despite Zambia being «known as the food basket of southern Africa»,  the country «stands at the brink of a hunger crisis,» said the WFP's director for the country Cissy Kabasuuga. In Namibia, an upper middle-income country, the situation was also dire. «All 14 regions were impacted by the drought, of which there are some that have very worrying levels (of food insecurity) and that's a very worrying situation for Namibia,» said WFP's Tiwonge Machiwenyika. The aid group's representative in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) also joined the appeal for assistance. The country has more than 25 million people facing emergency levels of food insecurity, said Peter Musoko, WFP's representative in the DRC, with «no relief in sight». That was all «due to a cocktail» of conflict, climate extremes and health crises including outbreaks of mpox, cholera and measles, Musoko added. As a result of those multiple issues, the WFP said it had also noted an increase in sexual and gender-based violence in the country and the opening of brothels around camps hosting displaced people. US President Joe Biden on Tuesday during a trip to the region announced a $1 billion humanitarian aid package to 31 African countries, including for people affected by the drought. © Agence France-Presse

[RFI] US President Joe Biden announced more than $1 billion in funding for drought-stricken African nations as he ended his three-day visit to Angola with a summit at the port of Lobito, where a $3 billion railway project aims to connect Angola's Atlantic coast with Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

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Seychelles' authorities are set to install 22 CCTV cameras next year in the Anse Royale district in the south of Mahe, the main island, to help the police better tackle crimes committed in the area.  The cameras are the result of the district’s member in the National Assembly, Sylvianne Lemiel’s, project—which she started with the Seychelles Police Force in 2018—in a bid to curb illegal activities, such as vandalism at Anse Royale.  Lemiel approached the Chinese Embassy in Seychelles to ask for a donation to purchase the cameras. The Seychelles Police Force, for its part, is also encouraging other districts in the country to implement similar surveillance projects to help curb crime.  “We have experienced many robberies and we at the Anse Royale district have deemed it important to ensure our inhabitants, businesses and visitors’ safety,” Lemiel explained to the press during the official handing over ceremony of the equipment recently.  Member of the National Assembly for Anse Royale, Sylvianne Lemiel, handing over cameras to the Seychelles Police (Seychelles News Agency) Photo License: CC-BY The cameras will be installed on steel poles in key areas of the district, such as the school, churches, and Fairyland—an area with a stretch of beach popular to visitors and locals alike.  The Chinese Embassy in Seychelles donated SCR 100,000 (US$ 7,224), and the Ministry of Local Government and Community Affairs contributed a little over SCR 52,000 (US$ 3,756) to purchase the 22 surveillance cameras at a total cost of SCR 159,000 (US$ 11,486).  “The installing of the CCTV cameras is a necessary step to strengthen neighbourhood watch, deter the offenders and support efforts of the police to provide better service and protection during these emergency cases which may arise,” said the Chinese Ambassador to Seychelles, Lin Nan.  The Chinese Ambassador to Seychelles, Lin Nan, presenting the donation. (Seychelles News Agency) Photo License: CC-BY The Minister for Local Government and Community Affairs, Rose-Marie Hoareau, said that the installment is not just about technology, but also “an investment in the safety of businesses, residents and others visiting the district.”  She added that this is “a step to building a stronger, more connected community where people can go about their lives with greater peace of mind.”  Meanwhile, the head of the Police Communications Centre, Mike Monthy, said, “the cameras will be able to pick up a lot of information, for instance we can record the registration number of vehicles using the road and if they are involved in any offences committed, we may also detect them.”  Over several decades, China has contributed significantly to the development of Seychelles and has helped with infrastructure projects, such as the National Assembly building, the Palais de Justice, housing estates, and the ongoing project of the Seychelles Broadcasting Corporation (SBC) House.

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