Southern Africa’s desert nation of Namibia swore in its first woman president Friday after Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah won elections that extended the ruling party’s 35-year grip on power.

Nandi-Ndaitwah, 72, became one of the few women to lead an African nation in a ceremony attended by heads of state from several countries on the continent including Angola, South Africa and Tanzania.

Previously in the post of vice president, she is a veteran of the South West Africa People’s Organisation (SWAPO) that led the sparsely populated and uranium-rich country to independence from apartheid South Africa in 1990.

Outgoing president Nangolo Mbumba, 83, handed over power at a ceremony that coincided with the 35th anniversary of Namibia’s independence and was moved from the Independence Stadium to State House because of rare heavy rains.

Applause and ululations erupted as Nandi-Ndaitwah, popularly known as NNN, took the oath of office.

Before delivering her remarks, she called on previous women African leaders in the audience, including Liberia’s Nobel Peace laureate and former president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, to stand.

Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu Hassan, the only other woman currently leading an African country, was also present.

Nandi-Ndaitwah said that while her election would encourage other women, it should be clear: “I was not elected because I’m a woman but on merit.

“As women, we should not ask to be elected to positions of responsibility because we are women, but because we are capable members of our society,” she said.