The stakes are high as politicians vie to be elected into the new government, but it is the voters who will ultimately decide.
Incoming leaders have a choice - clean up their act or face continuing public criticism.
As Namibia approaches the presidential and National Assembly elections in November, the country's articulate youth, known as Gen Z, are increasingly demanding radical change and accountability from their leaders. They want a say in national decisions and are calling for 'cleaner' governance.
Gen Z, born between 1997 and 2012, is reshaping the political landscape in Namibia and challenging established norms, with demands for a different type of engagement from their leaders.
During recent visits to local universities in north-central Namibia, young people told The Namibian they felt most political parties do not prioritise youth interests.
Morning Gabriel (21) from Onawa at Oshakati said as a first-time voter, she expects political party leaders to focus more on youth issues.
"I want party leaders to prioritise youth interests. We demand transparency, accountability and meaningful inclusiveness in the government."
YOUNG VOTERS' FRUSTRATIONS
Gen Z individuals believe their vote can influence the country's future political landscape, but many expressed their discontent with political party leaders.
They say they feel ignored and unseen in the various political parties' campaigns and not enough is being done to engage them.
Evelina Nashima, a second-year student at the University of Namibia (Unam) Hifikepunye Pohamba campus at Ongwediva, said most political leaders are more focused on 'securing the bag' (making money) than advocating challenges facing the youth.
"I'm a first-time voter and I'm looking forward to the upcoming elections to cast my vote. However, I'm a bit disappointed by so many political leaders. They are not saying anything about how they plan to tackle the challenges facing the youth. They are focused more on hurling insults and calling each other names, which is so disappointing to young voters."
Nashima called for the various political parties to publish their manifestos and detail how they plan to solve issues such as high youth unemployment and the high cost of education, among many other challenges.
Nashima said she wants to see political party leaders being more radical in their approaches, and to engage more with the youth on political matters.
Unam student Julia Simon (25) echoed these sentiments and called for party leaders to particularly engage the youth in party structures.
"I understand that we are not much vested in politics and we might lack here and there, but the leaders must include us in their activities so that we gain the much needed experience and understanding. We will not be young forever, one day we will need to take over," she said.
DEMAND FOR REPRESENTATION
Young people expressed the desire to see more youth representation in political parties, rather than older people who may be out of touch with their needs and concerns.
"It's useless to have leaders who are of pension age to make decisions for the country when they might not even be alive in the next 10 years," said Joshua Iita.
"We currently do not feel represented in these parties at all, they always want to hear our opinions but I feel like they are not obligated to act on them. Once we have some youth leaders in parties and in parliament, our views and suggestions become actionable," said another young voter.
Political analyst Ndumba Kamwanyah says the youth are agitated by their socio-economic situations and want to feel seen and heard by political party leaders.
"They feel their concerns are not heard and they also want to be represented in party structures. From that perspective, we are seeing a lot of them upset and frustrated about their situation. Those concerns coming from young people are important. It's an opportunity for political parties to connect with young people in terms of their campaigns."
Kamwanyah says political campaigns should address the youth's concerns and engage young people more to participate in political party activities.
"Also try putting them in party structures or whatever structures that they can fit in," he adds.
Kamwanyah believes no political party has aggressively engaged the youth so far.
"Maybe it is because we have not seen any political party manifesto yet, so we can assess how the issue of young people is being addressed by those various political party manifestos. If you want to connect with the youth, you must address their needs and you must meet them where they are. A larger number of them are on social media," he says.
INFLUENCES ON VOTING DECISIONS
Gen Z's decisions on who to vote for are said to be influenced by multiple factors, including conversations with friends, the opinions of family, celebrity support and social media influencers.
Kamati Tuhafeni said the promises of political parties would partly influence his vote.
"My vote in the upcoming elections will be based on the promises by political party leaders and also my own political knowledge. I will wait on the political parties to share their party manifestos and then determine which party to vote for. At the moment, the parties are not doing much. Maybe they feel it's too early, but I think the earlier the better for us."
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
Tuhafeni further said he would also base his vote on the past performance of political parties. Kamwanyah says young people have a demographic advantage in terms of influencing voting decisions.
"The preliminary survey that was released a few months ago suggests that Namibia is a youthful country, that the youth cohort is larger than any other population. So, that means if they are engaged, they can make a significant change. It is important that young people are engaged, so that they can make a change because they are the larger population."
Kamwanyah called on the youth to leverage their demographic advantage to influence political parties to include their needs and interests.
"If young people could turn up during these elections, we are going to see a significant impact in terms of the political landscape," says Kamwanyah.
He also urged the youth to stop waiting on political party leaders to come to them, but to make an effort to engage and challenge some of the old policies being maintained by various political parties.
"I think it requires activism from young people to engage with political parties so that they can participate in the political process more, in particular the electoral process.
"They must not just sit down and expect to be rounded up. I think they must meet and write about their needs and they must dance and sing about their needs if they want to see change," adds Kamwanyah.
