ALUMNI STORIES
A former Keele University student has made history by becoming the first female President of Namibia.
12 | FOREVER Keele
ALUMNI STORIES
Keele alumna becomes first female President of Namibia
A former Keele University student has made history by becoming the first female President of Namibia.
Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, who was previously the country’ s vice-president and Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, won the general election with more than 57 % of the vote.
The country’ s fifth president, Netumbo, aged 72, graduated from Keele in 1989 with a master’ s degree in Diplomatic Studies. She has served in high government office in the country for a quarter of a century and becomes Keele’ s first graduate to become a Head of State.
Professor Trevor McMillan OBE, outgoing Vice- Chancellor of Keele University, said:“ Our global network of over 100,000 alumni in 160 countries is creating positive impact across the world in a range of diverse careers.
“ We’ re very proud that our community of alumni can now count a Head of State within their ranks, and we wish Netumbo success during her time in office.”
At least 1.4 million people, or about half of the population, had registered to vote in the elections, with 15 political parties running for president and seats in the National Assembly.