Namibia swears in first female president
Namibia's new president was sworn in on Friday to lead a country facing high rates of unemployment, inequality and poverty.
And she will be dealing with it with the additional burden of being only Africa's second-ever directly elected female president and Namibia's first female head of state.
"If things go well then it will be seen as a good example," Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah told BBC's Africa Daily podcast. "But if anything then happens, like it can happen in any administration under men, there are also those who would rather say: 'Look at women!'"
The 72-year-old won November's election with a 58% share of the vote.
Nandi-Ndaitwah has been a long-term loyalist of the South West Africa People's Organisation (Swapo) – which has been in power since the country gained independence in 1990 after a long struggle against apartheid South Africa.
She joined Swapo, then a liberation movement resisting South Africa's white-minority rule, when she was only 14.
While the party has made changes and improved the lives of the black majority, the legacy of apartheid can still be seen in patterns of wealth and land ownership.
"Truly, land is a serious problem in this country," she told the BBC ahead of the inauguration.
"We still have some white citizens and more particularly the absent land owners who are occupying the land."
From freedom fighter to Namibia's first female president
LISTEN: Africa Daily's interview with Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah
She adds that she is committed to the "willing-buyer, willing-seller" principle, which means no-one is forced to sell up.
Namibia is a geographically large country with a small population of three million.
Government statistics show that white farmers own about 70% of the country's farmland. A total of 53,773 Namibians identified as white in the 2023 census, representing 1.8% of the country's population.
Namibia is one of the world's most unequal countries, with a Gini coefficient of 59.1 in 2015, according to the World Bank, which projects poverty is expected to remain high at 17.2% in 2024.
The unemployment rate rose to 36.9% in 2023 from 33.4% in 2018, according to the country's statistics agency.
Nandi-Ndaitwah said the economy, which partly relies on mineral exports, should work more on adding value to what the country extracts from the ground rather than exporting raw materials.
She also wants Namibia to focus more on creative industries and get the education sector to adjust to new economic realities.
Nandi-Ndaitwah is only the second African woman to be directly elected as president, after Liberia's Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.
The continent's only other female president at the moment is Tanzania's Samia Suluhu Hassan, who took up the role after her predecessor died in office in 2021.
Nandi-Ndaitwah wants to be judged on her merits, but she said that it was a "good thing that we as countries are realising that just as men [can do], women can also hold the position of authority".
Sam Nujoma: The revolutionary leader who liberated Namibia
'I would prefer to die than see my traditions die out'
Should Namibian town scrap German name?
Namibia turns the visa tables on Western nations
Go to BBCAfrica.com for more news from the African continent.
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6 hours ago
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Unpacking the South African land law that so inflames Trump
South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa is at the centre of a political firestorm after he approved a law that gives the state the power to expropriate some privately owned land without compensation for owners. The law, which is yet to be implemented, has drawn the ire of US President Donald Trump, who sees it as discriminating against white farmers. Centre-right political parties and lobby groups in South Africa have also opposed it, saying they will challenge the Expropriation Act – as the law is named – in court on the grounds that it threatens property rights. Ramaphosa's government says the law provides for compensation to be paid in the vast majority of cases – and the changes are needed to increase black ownership of land. Most private farmland is still owned by white people. When Nelson Mandela came to power more than 30 years ago, ending the racist system of apartheid, it was promised that this would be rectified through a willing-buyer, willing-seller land reform programme – but critics say this has proved too slow and too costly. In rare circumstances it would be land that was needed for the "public interest", legal experts told the BBC. According to South African law firm Werksmans Attorneys, this suggested it would mainly, or perhaps only, happen in relation to the land reform programme. Although it could also be used to access natural resources such as minerals and water, the firm added, in an opinion written by its experts in the field, Bulelwa Mabasa and Thomas Karberg. Mabasa and Karberg told the BBC that in their view, productive agricultural land could not be expropriated without compensation. They said any expropriation without compensation – known as EWC – could take place only in a few circumstances: For example, when an owner was not using the land and was holding it for "speculative purposes" Or when an owner "abandoned the land by failing to exercise control over it despite being reasonably capable of doing so". Owners would probably still get compensation for the buildings on the land and for the natural resources, the lawyers said. Mabasa and Karberg added that EWC was "not aimed at rural land or farmland specifically, and could include land in urban areas". However, in cases where compensation is paid, the rules are set to change, with owners likely to get less money. The plan is for owners to receive "just-and-equitable" compensation – a departure from the higher "market value" they have been getting up to now, Mabasa and Karberg said. The government had been paying market-value compensation despite the fact that this was "at odds" with the constitution, adopted after white-minority rule ended in 1994, they added. The lawyers said that all expropriations had "extensive procedural fairness requirements", including the owner's right to go to court if they were not happy. The move away from market-value compensation will also apply to land expropriated for a "public purpose" – like building state schools or railways. This has not been a major point of controversy, possibly because it is "hardly a novel concept" – a point made by JURISTnews, a legal website run by law students from around the world. "The US Constitution, for instance, provides that the government can seize private property for public use so long as 'just compensation' is provided," it added. The government hopes so. University of Western Cape land expert Prof Ruth Hall told the BBC that more than 80,000 land claims remain unsettled. In the eastern regions of South Africa, many black people work on farms for free – in exchange they are allowed to live there and keep their livestock on a portion of the owners' land, she said. The government wants to transfer ownership of this land to the workers, and it was "unfair" to expect it to pay the market value, Prof Hall added. Over the last three decades, the government has used existing powers to expropriate property–- with less than market-value compensation – in fewer than 20 cases, she said. The new law was aimed at making it easier and cheaper to restore land to black people who were "dispossessed" of it during white-minority rule or were forced to be "long-term tenants" as they could not own land, Prof Hall added. "It's a bargaining chip," she said. But she doubts that the government will press ahead with implementing the law in the foreseeable future as the "political cost" has become too high. The academic was referring to the fact that Trump has opposed the law, saying it discriminates against white farmers and their land was being "seized" – a charge the government denies. In February, Trump cut aid to South Africa, and in April he announced a 30% tariff on South African goods and agricultural products, although this was later paused for 90 days. This was followed by last month's infamous Oval Office showdown when Trump ambushed Ramaphosa with a video and printouts of stories alleging white people were being persecuted – much of his dossier has been discredited. Fact-checking Trump's Oval Office confrontation with Ramaphosa Like Trump, the second-biggest party in Ramaphosa's coalition government, the Democratic Alliance (DA), is opposed to the legislation. In a statement on 26 May, the party said that its top leadership body had rejected the notion of "nil compensation". However, it has agreed with the concept of just-and-equitable compensation rather than market-value compensation, adding it should be "adjudicated by a court of law". Surprisingly, Jaco Kleynhans of the Solidarity Movement, an influential Afrikaner lobby group, said that while the new law could "destroy" some businesses and he was opposed to it, he did not believe it would lead to the "large-scale expropriation of farmland". "I don't see within the wording of this text that that will happen," he said in a recent panel discussion at an agricultural exhibition held in South Africa's Free State province – where a large number of conservative Afrikaner farmers live. The South African Property Owners Association said it was "irrational" to give "nil compensation" to an owner who held land for speculative purposes. "There are many landowners whose sole purpose of business is to speculate in land. They do not get the land for free and they have significant holding costs," the association said, adding it had no doubt the law would be "abundantly tested" in the courts. Mabasa and Karberg said one view was that the concept of EWC was a "legal absurdity" because "intrinsic in the legal definition of expropriation, is a requirement for compensation to be paid". However, the lawyers pointed out the alternative view was that South Africa's constitution "implicitly recognises that it would in some circumstances be just and equitable for compensation to be nil". South Africa's Public Works Minister Dean Macpherson has defended the legislation, breaking ranks with his party, the DA. In fact he is in charge of the new legalisation and, on a discussion panel, he explained that while he had some concerns about the law, it was a "dramatic improvement" on the previous Expropriation Act, with greater safeguards for land-owners. He said the law could also help end extortionist demands on the state, and in some cases "nil compensation" could be justified. He gave as an example the problems being faced by the state-owned power utility Eskom. It plans to roll out a transmission network over about 4,500km (28,000 miles) of land to boost electricity supplies to end the power crisis in the country. Ahead of the roll-out, some individuals colluded with Eskom officials to buy land for 1m rand ($56,000; £41,000), and then demanded R20m for it, he said. "Is it just and equitable to give them what they want? I don't think that's in the interest of the broader community or the state," Macpherson said. Giving another example, Macpherson said that some of South Africa's inner cities were in a "disastrous" condition. After owners left, buildings were "over-run" and "hijacked" for illegal occupation. The cost to the state to rebuild them could exceed their value, and in such cases the courts could rule that an owner qualified for "nil compensation", he said. "Nil is a form of compensation," Macpherson added, while ruling it out for farms. Johannesburg mayor Dada Morero told South Africa's Mail & Guardian newspaper that he wanted to use the buildings for the "public good", like accommodating around 300,000 people on the housing waiting list. He added the owners of nearly 100 buildings could not be located. "They have abandoned the buildings," he said, adding some of the owners were from the UK and Germany. But Mabasa and Karberg told the BBC that in such cases compensation would probably still have to be paid for the buildings, though not the land. If the state could not locate the owners, it "must deposit the compensation with the Master of the High Court" in case they returned or could be traced later, they said. The law is in limbo, as Ramaphosa – about four months after giving his assent to it – has still not set a date for its implementation. Nor is he likely to do so anytime soon, as he would not want to further antagonise Trump while South Africa was trying to negotiate a trade deal with the US. And on the domestic front, the DA is spearheading opposition to the legislation. It said it wanted a "judicial review" of it, while at the same time it was pressing ahead with court action to challenge the law's constitutionality. The DA's tough line is in contrast with that of Macpherson, who, a few weeks ago, warned that if the law was struck down in its entirety: "I don't know what's going to come after that. "In politics, sometimes you must be careful what you wish for because often you can get it," he said. His comments highlight the deep fissures in South African politics, with some parties, such as Julius Malema's Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), believing that the legislation did not go far enough to tackle racial inequality in land ownership. With land such an emotive issue, there is no easy solution to the dispute – and it is likely to continue to cause tensions within South Africa, as well as with the US president. Rebuked by Trump but praised at home: How Ramaphosa might gain from US showdown Is there a genocide of white South Africans as Trump claims? South Africans' anger over land set to explode Go to for more news from the African continent. Follow us on Twitter @BBCAfrica, on Facebook at BBC Africa or on Instagram at bbcafrica Africa Daily Focus on Africa
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Former Sinn Fein leader awarded thousands in damages after winning libel action against BBC
Former Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams has been awarded €100,000 (£84,000) in damages after winning his defamation action against the BBC. The 76-year-old had claimed a BBC Spotlight programme and an online article published in 2016 defamed him by alleging he sanctioned the murder of former Sinn Fein official Denis Donaldson, for which he denies any involvement. A jury at the High Court in Dublin found in his favour on Friday after determining that was the meaning of words included in the programme and article. It also found the BBC's actions were not in good faith and the corporation had not acted in a fair and reasonable way. Mr Donaldson, 55, was shot dead at a cottage near Glenties, County Donegal in 2006, months after being exposed as a British agent. The dissident republican group the Real IRA claimed responsibility for the killing in 2009 and a Garda investigation is ongoing. During the civil defamation trial, Mr Adams claimed the Spotlight programme was an "attempted hatchet job" that was "full of inaccuracies". The programme featured an anonymous source named "Martin" who said that murders had to be approved by the political and military leadership of the IRA. When pressed on who he was referring to, "Martin" replied: "Gerry Adams. He gives the final say". Mr Adams, who spent seven days in the witness box during the trial, described the allegation as a "grievous smear". He told the court that he had "liked" Mr Donaldson and was "shocked" to learn of his murder. "Personally, I think Denis Donaldson was a victim of the conflict. I don't see any other way of describing it," he said. Speaking outside court after the verdict, Mr Adams, who spoke in both Irish and English, said this case was "about putting manners on the British Broadcasting Corporation". Mr Adams told reporters: "The British Broadcasting Corporation upholds the ethos of the British state in Ireland, and in my view it's out of sync in many, many fronts with the Good Friday Agreement. "It hasn't caught on to where we are on this island as part of the process, the continuing process, of building peace and justice, and harmony, and, hopefully, in the time ahead, unity." Mr Adams added that he was "very mindful of the Donaldson family" in the course of the case. He continued: "I want to say that the Justice Minister Jim O'Callaghan should meet the family of Denis Donaldson as quickly as possible, and that there's an onus on both governments and everyone else, and I include myself in this, to try and deal with these legacy issues as best that we can." Asked what the outcome of the case might mean for his reputation, Mr Adams replied: "I've always been satisfied with my reputation. "Obviously, like yourself, we all have flaws in our character, but the jury made the decision and let's accept the outcome, and I think let's accept what the jury said." Mr Adams's legal team sought at least €200,000 (£168,000) in damages. The former Sinn Fein president had said he would give any award received to good causes. His testimony during the trial was wide-ranging, including a lengthy account of his early years and political awakenings. At times, he became emotional as he recalled past events. Read more from Sky News: The BBC denied it defamed Mr Adams and claimed the Spotlight programme and article were put out in good faith and during the course of discussion on a subject of public and vital interest. It defended its "responsible journalism" and said that it was the result of careful investigation. The BBC also argued it was merely reporting allegations, rather than standing over them. The British public service broadcaster also argued it would be a "cruel joke" to award the former Sinn Fein president any damages. Adam Smyth, director of BBC Northern Ireland, expressed disappointment at the outcome of the case. Speaking to media outside court, Mr Smyth said: "We believe we supplied extensive evidence to the court of the careful editorial processes and journalistic diligence applied to this programme, and to the accompanying online article. "Moreover, it was accepted by the court and conceded by Gerry Adams' legal team that the Spotlight broadcast and publication were of the highest public interest. "We didn't want to come to court but it was important that we defend our journalism and we stand by that decision. "[Northern Ireland's] past is difficult terrain for any jury and we thank them for their diligence and careful consideration of the issues in this case. "The implications of their decision, though, are profound. As our legal team made clear, if the BBC's case cannot be won under existing Irish defamation law, it is hard to see how anyone's could, and they warned how today's decision would hinder freedom of expression." BBC Spotlight reporter Jennifer O'Leary said: "I said in the witness box that I had nothing to hide, only sources to protect, and I want to thank them for trusting me. "I'm a big believer in trying your best in life and going about your business with integrity, and I want to pay a particular tribute to our witnesses in court, senator Michael McDowell, Trevor Ringland, and in particular Ann Travers, who spoke so courageously. "There are thousands of Ann Travers across this island and in Britain, victims and survivors of the Troubles, and in the years of violence after the peace agreement ... those people carry the burden of their grief and trauma with incredible dignity and courage, and they are the people I am thinking of, I know my colleagues are also thinking of. I am thinking of all of them today."
Yahoo
12 hours ago
- Yahoo
Ncuti Gatwa shares emotional message to fans and co-stars after Doctor Who exit
Ncuti Gatwa has shared an emotional post thanking his co-star companions after leaving the show. Gatwa's 15th Doctor regenerated in Saturday's finale (May 31), and regenerated into the returning Billie Piper. In a statement provided by the BBC, the Scottish-Rwandan actor said the "journey has been one that I will never forget". Now, he has shared a social media post thanking co-stars Millie Gibson and Varada Sethu. Gatwa regenerating in his final episode of Doctor Who (Image: BBC Studios/Bad Wolf/PA) Gibson played Ruby Sunday and was the main companion in Gatwa's first series as the 15th Doctor. Her character appeared less frequently in the second series, with Varada Sethu's Belinda Chandra taking the mantle as the new companion. Taking to Instagram, Gatwa shared a picture of the trio, and said: "Three queens of the sky, "Twas an experience like no other and thank God we were by eachothers side. "There aren't quite the words for how much you both mean to me but I am so grateful I got the opportunity to work, learn from and laugh with you both everyday. "You're both just simply incredible and it has been nothing short of a blessing to share this journey with both of you. "Ruby Sunday and Belinda Chandra will live in mine and the Whoniverse hearts forever. "Also shout out to the CAPTAIN of all 15's companions. Captain Poppy. Ultimate top dog of this season! (lil Sienna brought so much life and magic to us all on set ) I love you guys. We did it." It was the first of two Instagram posts Gatwa has shared since his exit. The second was a picture of himself in the TARDIS, with the caption: "Monsters, goblins, gods, human-eating Slugs, invisible brain-altering creatures, evil barbers, conspiracy theorists… you've had quite a busy two years. Well done and rest up son. "@bbcdoctorwho @disneydoctorwho @russelltdavies63 @bad_wolf_tv Thank you endlessly. XV." In a statement released by the BBC, on his decision to leave, Gatwa said:'You know when you get cast, at some point you are going to have to hand back that sonic screwdriver and it is all going to come to an end, but nothing quite prepares you for it. 'This journey has been one that I will never forget, and a role that will be part of me forever. "There are no words to describe what it feels like to be cast as the Doctor, nor are there words to explain what it feels like to be accepted into this iconic role that has existed for over 60 years and is truly loved by so many across the globe. 'I've loved every minute of it, but now is the time to hand over the keys to that beloved blue box and let someone else take control and enjoy it every bit as much as I have. "I'll truly miss it, and forever be grateful to it, and everyone that has played a part in my journey as the Doctor.' After Gatwa's exit, the 15th Doctor is seen regenerating into Billie Piper. Piper, 42, first appeared in the series as the companion to the Ninth Doctor in 2005, playing Rose Tyler alongside Christopher Eccleston's Time Lord. She stayed on and was the companion to the 10th Doctor, played by David Tennant. However, despite her introduction on the show, it has not been confirmed she is the 16th Doctor. Some fans are also not convinced, with the end credits reading: "And introducing Billie Piper." Many compared this to when Ncuti Gatwa was introduced as the 15th Doctor, when it read: "And introducing Ncuti Gatwa as The Doctor." Previous actors have also received similar credit introductions. "Ncuti Gatwa as The Doctor" "Jodie Whittaker as The Doctor" "And introducing Billie Piper" ...but NO "as The Doctor" I FIND THAT VERY SUS. — Ben (He/Him) (@BenDW96) May 31, 2025 One said on X (formerly Twitter): "Billie Piper wasn't introduced as the Doctor, and this year was the 20th anniversary of Series 1... There's definitely more to this..." Another said: "She's clearly not the Doctor but some Bad Wolf shenanigans." Fueling speculation on her role in the show, Doctor Who TV simply says: "But just how and why she is back remains to be seen…" Recommended reading: Ncuti Gatwa regenerates and leaves Doctor Who as '16th Doctor' is revealed Every actor that has played the role of The Doctor and where are they now Doctor Who fans spot hint suggesting Billie Piper may not be the next Doctor On her return, Piper said: 'It's no secret how much I love this show, and I have always said I would love to return to the Whoniverse as I have some of my best memories there, so to be given the opportunity to step back on that Tardis one more time was just something I couldn't refuse, but who, how, why and when, you'll just have to wait and see.' Shortly after the finale aired, the actress shared a post on Instagram holding a rose with the caption that read: 'A rose is a rose is a rose !!!' If she is confirmed as The Doctor, Piper will be the second after Jody Whittaker's 13th Doctor.
