WINDHOEK, Namibia — In Namibia, voting for a new president and parliament was extended until the weekend by the electoral agency due to a lack of ballot papers, a decision contested by the main opposition which alleges fraud.

The southern African country’s elections management body said polling stations that should have closed on Wednesday will now close on Saturday evening after some ran out of ballot papers. The opposition Independent Patriots for Change party said Friday that the extension was illegal.

Namibia’s electoral problems come as Mozambique is plunged into violent unrest after the long-ruling Frelimo party was declared the winner of elections in October, leading to allegations of electoral fraud and sparks. ongoing violent protests against the party.

Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, Namibia’s 72-year-old vice president and presidential candidate for the ruling SWAPO party, would become the largely desert country’s first female leader if she wins.

But she faces fierce opposition of a young population apparently frustrated by the lack of opportunities in a mineral-rich country classified by the World Bank as an upper-middle income country, but also one of the most unequal countries in the world.

Elsie Nghikembua, chairwoman of the Electoral Commission of Namibia, said many people were unable to vote due to “logistical” problems.

Many people had not yet voted as of Friday afternoon, with long lines at polling stations visited by The Associated Press. Many remote rural polling stations were still waiting for ballots to be delivered.

Election officials assured voters that ballots were on the way, but many were doubtful.

Nangombe Shitaleni, a registered voter queuing at the polling station at the Okandjengedi community center in northern Namibia, said he had not voted since Wednesday. He said he would give up if he wasn’t served Friday night.

“I come to the same place every day without being helped. It’s like you’re crazy,” he said.

About 1.4 million people, or about half of Namibia’s population, are registered to vote to decide the president and the composition of Parliament for a five-year term.

Namibia is a former German colony that came under South African control after World War I and its black majority was subsequently subjected to a policy of apartheid. SWAPO was at the forefront of the battle for independence and has dominated politics since independence in 1990.

Previous elections were widely seen as credible, earning the country rich in minerals such as gold and uranium the title of one of the most stable democracies on a continent where the transfer of power often involves contested elections, force, even bloodshed.

SWAPO has governed and held the presidency of Namibia for 34 years since its independence. But there is frustration caused by high unemployment and economic hardship, particularly among young people. It’s a trend that this year has seen voters in other southern African countries reject parties that liberated their nations from colonial or white minority rule in favor of era-ending change to resolve new problems.