Litmus test for Swapo

In past 6 months ANC and Botswana Democratic Party got wake-up calls.

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Will Namibia be the next country in southern Africa to kick out a political party that has been in power since independence?

In a year that has proven fatal for many ruling parties across the region, Namibia's election on 27 November is set to be a tight contest for the ruling South West Africa People's Organisation (Swapo).

In the past six months, South Africa's ANC lost its parliamentary majority for the first time since the end of apartheid.

The Botswana Democratic Party was ousted after almost six decades in power, and though the ruling Frelimo won recent elections in Mozambique, civil society and opposition groups have demonstrated for weeks claiming fraud and demanding change.

Apart from Botswana, "these are countries that got liberation much later than a lot of the other countries on the continent", said Nic Cheeseman, professor specialised in African politics at the University of Birmingham.