SWAPO

South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO), [ˈswɑːpəʊ], (German: Südwestafrikanische Volksorganisation, SWAVO; Afrikaans: Suidwes-Afrikaanse Volk-Organisasie, SWAVO), officially known as SWAPO Party of Namibia, is a political party and former national liberation movement in Namibia. It has been the governing party in Namibia since achieving independence in 1990. The party won 86.73% of the popular vote and 77 out of 96 seats in the general election held in November 2014.

Though the organisation rejected the term South West Africa and insisted on replacing it with Namibia, the organisation's own name—derived from the territory's old name—was already too deeply rooted to be changed. However, the original full name is no longer used and only the acronym remains.

History

After World War I the League of Nations gave South-West Africa, formerly a German colony, to the United Kingdom as a mandate under the title of South Africa. When the National Party won the 1948 election in South Africa and subsequently introduced apartheid legislation, these laws also extended into South-West Africa which was the de facto fifth province of South Africa.