First Gentleman

General Ndaitwah to alert his wife if he sees something wrong. “I won’t be blind.”

Namibia’s first gentleman-in-waiting, Denga Ndaitwah (72), once commanded the country’s armed forces, but now will take a backseat as his wife becomes the country’s fifth president.

The general made one thing clear: He will offer advice – when necessary – to help her succeed.

Tomorrow, in front of thousands of people at Independence Stadium, Ndaitwah will stand next to his wife, Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, as she makes history as Namibia’s first woman president.

As his wife raises her hand and swears to defend the Constitution, general Ndaitwah will make history in his own right as Namibia’s first gentleman.

While he is prepared to offer counsel when asked, he says his role is not to dictate or influence her leadership.

“Where I can, I will share my thoughts. But I don’t want to be running the show. That’s not me,” Ndaitwah tells The Namibian in an interview at his family house in Windhoek’s Hochland Park.

Ndaitwah, dressed in a golf shirt and blue jeans, goes back to change into a more formal outfit after learning he would be on camera. He returns dressed in a navy blue suit, shirt and hat.

“Am I dressed properly now?” he asks, settling down for the interview.

During the interview, Ndaitwah insists that he trusts that the country’s governing institutions are well positioned to help his wife succeed.

A heartbroken Manchester United fan, Ndaitwah loves country music. “Donnie Williams, don’t leave him out. Alan Jackson, don’t forget him. Kenny Rogers, too. And to the legend, Jimmie Rivers and Charlie Pride. Country music is my favourite.”

WALKING THE FINE LINE

Ndaitwah knows the whispers will come – suggestions that he may try to steer policy and that his proximity to power might blur boundaries. But he is adamant about his role.

“My goal is to draw a clear-cut line so that I do not cross it,” he says. “She’s my wife. I’m her husband. That doesn’t mean I must not say anything.”

He acknowledges that there may be moments when he sees something the president does not.

“Your excellency, I’ve noticed…” he imagines saying. “Because I will not be blind. I can see something she may not be seeing, or something she is not being informed about.”

At the end of the day, he insists, their relationship will remain what it has always been, one of shared perspectives.

“At home, a husband and wife talk. She may ask, ‘My husband, what do you think?’ And I will not say, ‘Because you are the president, I think nothing.’”

Still, he is mindful of the fine balance. “Of course, you might call it policy influence,” he admits. “But I cannot see things going wrong and turn a blind eye as if I don’t see them. Because by doing so, I would be allowing my wife – the president – to fail.”

A TURNING POINT

Ndaitwah was born on 13 December 1952 in Ondobe, Ohangwena region. He is the third of nine children and the first son.

When he was young, his parents moved to Okongo, where he spent his early years tending livestock. Initially, he did not attend school.

“But as I saw other children my age going to school, I asked my father why I couldn’t go as well,” he recalled. He was eventually enrolled.Balancing schoolwork with family responsibilities was not easy. At one point, he missed his first exam and ranked last in his class – a moment that would become a turning point.

“From that year, I never failed again,” he says.

He later completed Standard 6 (Grade 8).

In 1974, Ndaitwah was expelled from school at Ongwediva for opposing apartheid.

“You had to refrain from politics, and if you didn’t, the likelihood of being expelled was very high,” he recalls. Some teachers even attended class armed with guns.

Ndaitwah faced a choice: leave politics and finish his education or confront the harsh realities of oppression.

He says he was inspired by liberation radio broadcasts from Tanzania and the hope of freedom. He left the country.

After 25 April 1974, when a coup in Portugal brought change to its African colonies, including Angola and Mozambique, a new window of opportunity opened for Namibians.

At 21, Ndaitwah joined his comrades and headed for Angola. But the journey was far from simple.

“The moment you are on the other side, you don’t know where to go – no idea of where we were.

The majority of people spoke Portuguese,” he says.

Their ultimate goal was to reach Swapo’s offices in Zambia, relying on the guidance of those who had made the journey before them.

In Zambia, Ndaitwah was first sent for basic military training.

Ndaitwah then joined 500 new recruits who were sent for further training in Kongwa, Tanzania, in 1975.

“Some of the people I can recall with us were Erastus Negonga, general Raonga Andima, Pendukeni Iivula-Ithana, who was head of the women, and many many others,” he says.

He was transferred from Zambia to Angola with a group of 24, shortly after Angola’s independence in 1975.

But Ndaitwah was quickly sent into Namibia as part of the first group to permanently operate between Eenhana and Okongo.

WAR AND LOVE

Amid the war, there was also love—a story born in exile. Ndaitwah recalls the moment he first saw “this young girl.”

It was 1979 at Lusaka Airport. Nandi-Ndaitwah had just been appointed Swapo’s deputy chief representative for Central Africa – a role typically reserved for senior members.

“When I saw her at the airport, I was impressed by this young, slender girl who had earned such a position.

But at the time, I didn’t do much. I was just struck by the fact that someone so young could take on that job,” he says.

Days later, Ndaitwah left Lusaka for the frontline in Angola.

The following year, he stepped on a landmine and was severely wounded. While recovering, he was sent to Yugoslavia for training.

Yet, he couldn’t forget the girl he had met at the airport. He found a way to get her contact details, and they began exchanging letters.

When he returned from Yugoslavia, Ndaitwah went back to Angola, but their bond only deepened. Soon, they were engaged.

On 26 August 1983, the couple married in Tanzania, where Nandi-Ndaitwah was stationed as Swapo’s chief representative for East Africa.

Despite years of being apart due to their respective duties in different countries, he says she remains the same woman he married 42 years ago.

As Namibia edged closer to independence in 1989, Ndaitwah rose through the military ranks, eventually commanding the country’s largest unit, the First Brigade.

By 1996, he had attained the rank of colonel. When Namibia entered the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) war in 1998, he served as a brigadier general, spending three years in the conflict.

Upon his return, he continued to rise through the ranks, ultimately being appointed chief of the defence force in 2011.

He stayed in that role for three years, working to professionalise the force. The former chief then asked to be released from this position as former president Hage Geingob took the helm of the government in 2015.

That was the first time he’d ever experienced free time.

“I wanted to be free at one time, because since my childhood until the time I became the chief of defence, I had no time where I was on my own,” he says.

Ndaitwah then went back to farming. The farming life didn’t last long, and he joined academia, lecturing at the School of Military Science at the University of Namibia on a part-time basis.

Later, he became a senior lecturer at the International University of Management (IUM), where he also served on the governing board.

During his academic years, he started writing for journals and newspapers. Some of that work was compiled into a book, followed by two political science books.

Now, the former general is ready to support his wife, albeit from the sidelines.

“I will help her where I can, but I leave much of it to the people, the Cabinet, the legislature, the judiciary and other individuals to assist her.”

mr reliable

In light of her upcoming presidency, Ndaitwah says he has committed to embracing a supportive role as Namibia’s first gentleman, standing by her side as she assumes the nation’s highest office.

Ndaitwah has plans of his own, including getting young people off the streets and engaging them in productive activities like sport.

“People say the idle mind is the devil’s workshop,” he says.

Ndaitwah is considering establishing a foundation aimed at supporting Namibia’s most vulnerable children.

Ambassador Veiccoh Nghiwete, who has known Ndaitwah since childhood, describes Ndaitwah as a brave and courageous soldier.

“He is not a talkative person but is someone who is always determined to achieve his goals. We shared a table and attended primary school together at Oniipa and Ongwediva. We were both expelled from school although not at the same time,”Nghiwete says.

He adds that before they went into exile they engaged in contract labour at Walvis Bay. “He is a man who was liked by his soldiers. He commanded very brave battles,”Nghiwete says.

IUM founder David Namwandi says Ndaitwah is a reliable person and added value to the university.

“We really missed him but what he is doing now is even more important. We wish him well.

I am sure he will be able to raise the bar wherever he is going to be as the first gentleman of our nation,” Namwandi says.

– Additional reporting by Eliaser Ndeyanale