WINDHOEK — President Hage Geingob took a commanding lead in Namibia’s presidential election with roughly two-thirds of the votes counted following Wednesday’s vote, official data showed on Friday. Geingob, Namibia’s third leader since the sparsely populated and mostly arid country freed itself from the shackles of apartheid South Africa in 1990, was seeking a second and final term in the Nov. 27 election. He faced nine challengers including Panduleni Itula, a dentist-turned-politician who is a SWAPO member but running as an independent. Itula is popular with young people, nearly half of whom are unemployed. With 62.3% of the vote countered so far, presidential results from 76 out of 121 constituencies showed that Geingob was on track to retain office despite a dwindling support base in urban areas.

Source: National Post November 29, 2019 16:52 UTC