SWAPO bucks the regional trend: Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, the ruling party's first female presidential candidate, now has to deliver on her jobs promise.

The article focuses on recent political and electoral developments in Kenya, Namibia, and Zimbabwe. In Kenya, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) is nonfunctional due to lack of commissioners and funding, raising constitutional concerns ahead of future elections, while President William Ruto's coalition remains broad but fragile amid youth voter disengagement. Namibia's ruling party SWAPO retained power in recent elections despite opposition allegations of electoral interference involving Zimbabwe's ZANU-PF, with President-elect Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah pledging job creation amid a reduced majority and rising opposition presence. In Zimbabwe, President Emmerson Mnangagwa appointed loyalist Lovemore Matuke as Minister of State Security, filling a long-vacant post overseeing intelligence and security amid ongoing political repression and challenges to his authority.