Namibia: Pohamba for 2009 polls

2007-12-02 23:26

Windhoek - Namibian President Hifikepunye Pohamba will be renominated as the only SWAPO candidate for the general elections 2009, the ruling party resolved at its fourth congress, which ended in Windhoek Sunday.

At the congress, Pohamba was unanimously appointed to take over the SWAPO presidency from founding president Sam Nujoma, who bowed out after 47 years in office and was bestowed with the title "Leader of the Namibian Revolution" for his efforts.

Nujoma will still be allowed to attend meetings of the party structures such as the Central Committee and Politburo, the SWAPO leadership told reporters Sunday.

Justice Minister Pendukeni Iivula-Ithana became the first woman to be elected to the post of the party's secretary general.

The former liberation movement SWAPO has ruled Namibia, a nation of two million people, with at least a two-thirds majority since Namibia's independence in 1990.

- SAPA