MONROVIA – Former Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has departed the country as head of a high-level delegation to represent President Joseph Nyuma Boakai and the Republic of Liberia at Namibia’s presidential inauguration on March 21, 2025.
Sirleaf is also serving as President Boakai’s Special Envoy, using the occasion to lobby for Liberia’s bid for a non-permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council. The elections for the seat are scheduled to take place in June in New York.
Accompanying Sirleaf are Liberia’s Ambassador at Large Charles Snetter, Joyce Mendscole, and other officials, who will attend the swearing-in of Namibia’s President-elect Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah. Nandi-Ndaitwah, who won the November election with 57.31% of the vote, will become the country’s first female president and only the second woman elected to lead an African nation.
Her victory extends the rule of the South West Africa People’s Organization (SWAPO), which has governed Namibia since its independence from Germany in 1990. However, SWAPO’s dominance has weakened, as the party secured only 51 seats in the National Assembly—a narrow majority of three.
Nandi-Ndaitwah, 72, has served as Namibia’s vice president and will take over from President Nangolo Mbumba, who has led the country on an interim basis since the death of former President Hage Geingob in February last year. Her inauguration coincides with Namibia’s 35th Independence Day celebrations.
