The president of Namibia is the head of state and head of government of Namibia. The president directs the executive branch of the government, acts as chair of the Cabinet and is the commander-in-chief of the armed forces in terms of the Constitution.
Term limits
As of 2021, there is a two-term limit for the president in the Constitution of Namibia. The first president for whom the term limits applied was Hifikepunye Pohamba in 2015.
Succession
If the presidency falls vacant and the president is unable to perform their duties, then the following officials are in line for succession for the remaining presidential term:
- Vice President of Namibia
- Prime Minister of Namibia
- Deputy Prime Minister of Namibia
- a person appointed by the Cabinet.
Before the constitution was amended in 2014 to add the office of vice president, the prime minister was first in the line of succession.
List of officeholders
- Political parties
- Status
Denotes acting president
| No. | Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) |
Term of office | Political party | Elected | Cabinet(s) | Ref. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Took office | Left office | Time in office | ||||||||
| 1 | Sam Nujoma (1929–2025) |
21 March 1990 | 21 March 2005 | 15 years | SWAPO | 1989 | Nujoma I | |||
| 1994 | Nujoma II | |||||||||
| 1999 | Nujoma III | |||||||||
| 2 | Hifikepunye Pohamba (born 1935) |
21 March 2005 | 21 March 2015 | 10 years | 2004 | Pohamba I | ||||
| 2009 | Pohamba II | |||||||||
| 3 | Hage Geingob (1941–2024) |
21 March 2015 | 4 February 2024 # | 8 years, 320 days | 2014 | Geingob I | ||||
| 2019 | Geingob II | |||||||||
| — | Nangolo Mbumba (born 1941) |
25 January 2024 | 4 February 2024 | 10 days | — | Geingob II | ||||
| 4 | 4 February 2024 | 21 March 2025 | 1 year, 45 days | — | ||||||
| 5 | Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah (born 1952) |
21 March 2025 | Incumbent | 1 year, 197 days | 2024 | Nandi-Ndaitwah | ||||
Timeline
Latest election
| Candidate | Party | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah | SWAPO | 638,560 | 58.07 | |
| Panduleni Itula | Independent Patriots for Change | 284,106 | 25.84 | |
| McHenry Venaani | Popular Democratic Movement | 55,412 | 5.04 | |
| Bernadus Swartbooi | Landless People's Movement | 51,160 | 4.65 | |
| Job Amupanda | Affirmative Repositioning | 19,676 | 1.79 | |
| Hendrik Gaobaeb | United Democratic Front | 12,604 | 1.15 | |
| Henk Mudge | Republican Party | 8,988 | 0.82 | |
| Evilastus Kaaronda | SWANU | 7,991 | 0.73 | |
| Ambrosius Kumbwa | All People's Party | 5,197 | 0.47 | |
| Epafras Mukwiilongo | Namibian Economic Freedom Fighters | 3,978 | 0.36 | |
| Festus Thomas | Body of Christ Party | 3,641 | 0.33 | |
| Mike Kavekotora | Rally for Democracy and Progress | 2,974 | 0.27 | |
| Erastus Shuumbwa | Action Democratic Movement Party | 2,069 | 0.19 | |
| Sakaria Likuwa | United Namibians Party | 2,013 | 0.18 | |
| Vaino Amuthenu | Congress of Democrats | 1,213 | 0.11 | |
| Total | 1,099,582 | 100.00 | ||
| Valid votes | 1,099,582 | 98.69 | ||
| Invalid/blank votes | 14,552 | 1.31 | ||
| Total votes | 1,114,134 | 100.00 | ||
| Registered voters/turnout | 1,449,569 | 76.86 | ||
| Source: | ||||
