Namibians are preparing to vote for a new president and parliament on November 27, following the death of President Hage Geingob. His deputy, Nangolo Mbumba, has been temporarily serving as president. This election could represent a significant shift in Namibia’s political scene, as it may be the first time since the country gained independence in 1990 that the ruling SWAPO party loses control of the presidency or the parliament.
The presidential election requires candidates to secure over 50 percent of the vote to win, and recent polls show a decline in support for SWAPO. In 2014, the party had 87 percent backing, but this dropped to 56 percent in 2019.
Here are the main presidential candidates running in the election:
- Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah
The 72-year-old Vice President and first female presidential candidate for SWAPO, Nandi-Ndaitwah has been involved in the party since the 1960s during Namibia’s fight for independence from South Africa’s apartheid regime. She has held several senior positions in both the government and SWAPO, including ministerial roles in international relations, environment, and women’s affairs. - Panduleni Itula
A 67-year-old former SWAPO youth leader, Itula ran as an independent candidate in the 2019 election, securing 29 percent of the vote, the highest ever by a challenger to SWAPO. He later founded the Independent Patriots for Change (IPC), a party focusing on participatory democracy and anti-corruption. Itula, a former dentist, has become a prominent figure in Namibian politics since returning from exile. - McHenry Venaani
At 47, Venaani leads the Popular Democratic Movement (PDM), Namibia’s largest opposition party in parliament. Despite the PDM increasing its seat count in the 2019 election, Venaani received only 5 percent of the vote in the presidential race. Venaani, who studied law, became Namibia’s youngest parliamentarian in 2003. - Bernadus Swartbooi
Swartbooi, 47, is the leader of the Landless People’s Movement (LPM), a party that advocates for land redistribution and justice for marginalized groups. After being removed as deputy minister of land reform in 2017, Swartbooi left SWAPO and formed the LPM. His party holds four seats in parliament, and he garnered 3 percent of the vote in the 2019 election. - Job Amupanda
A former SWAPO youth leader, Amupanda, 37, founded the left-wing movement Affirmative Repositioning, which campaigns for land reform and the redistribution of land owned by foreigners. He served as the mayor of Windhoek in 2021 and is also an academic, teaching political science at the University of Namibia.
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