Tomorrow, candidates will square through the ballot for the highest office in the land.
With 15 contestants, becoming the main occupant of 1 Engelberg Street, Auasblick, appears to be an uphill task.
Here are some abridged profiles of candidates
Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah (72)
Nandi-Ndaitwah needs no introduction to the Namibian political theatre. She is a veteran politician and seasoned diplomat, having been a member of Parliament since 1990.
She is the Vice President, former Deputy Prime Minister and former minister of International Relations and Cooperation.
She has served in several Cabinet portfolios, including tourism, gender and information.
The politician has so far hinged her campaign on clean, corruption-free governance, youth empowerment, agriculture mechanisation and food security, as well as economic growth.
McHenry Venaani (47)
As far as Namibian politics is concerned, Venaani has come full circle. At just 26, he became one of Namibia's youngest MPs in 2003. He has a vested interest in foreign affairs, justice, agricultural reform, addressing the housing crisis, and restorative justice.
This year's elections will be his third attempt on the State House's door.
An immaculate orator, he has cemented himself as a household in Namibian politics, and commands respect from the young and old alike. Over the years, he has been a staunch activist for good governance, accountability and financial prudence.
He has also been critical of the joint declaration between Namibia and Germany on the genocide issue.
Bernadus Swartbooi (47)
With Swartbooi, what you see is what you get. He is the founding leader and chief change campaigner of the leftist Landless People's Movement (LPM). A teacher and admitted legal practitioner, he is a former governor of //Kharas and deputy land reform minister.
He resigned from his ministerial position in 2017, following a fallout with his then-supremo, Utoni Nujoma, whom he publicly accused of running and presiding over a flawed resettlement programme.
He refused to apologise to Nujoma, and subsequently resigned from Parliament and Swapo to form the LPM.
He is an ardent advocate for agrarian reform, ancestral land claims restitution, restorative justice in the genocide case and anti-corruption. He believes that the myriad of problems confronting Namibians, ranging from rampant corruption, unemployment, landlessness and inequality cannot be addressed with a smile on the face.
Job Amupanda (37)
The ambitious social justice activist announced his intention to contest for the highest office in the land last year through the unveiling of several billboards in Windhoek, Ondangwa, Walvis Bay and Swakopmund.
He will be the youngest presidential candidate. Back in 2020, through a similar approach, he announced that he would contest for the position of Windhoek mayor, although mayors are not directly elected by voters.
Many pushed the discussion to the side, as it appeared impossible until it ultimately became a reality.
He is a founding member of the Affirmative Repositioning (AR) movement. Loved and loathed in almost equal measure, Amupanda gained prominence through his activism as a student leader at the University of Namibia, and later in the Swapo Party Youth League before his expulsion from Swapo after several run-ins with the party's top brass.
Since its formation, AR has been a radical pressure group that has spearheaded protests across the country, exposed allegations of corruption, and formed several institutions to keep the State in check.
At the heart of AR's ideology, which prides itself on being a Marxist-Fannonian movement, is the issue of unaffordable urban housing and the restoration of Namibians' dignity, including the fight to remove the notorious veterinary cordon fence, infamously known as the red line.
Panduleni Itula (67)
Describing himself as an "accidental politician", Itula is a lawyer and dentist by training.
He is the founding father of independent candidates.
He first captured the attention of Namibians during the months leading up to the 2017 Swapo congress as the then-campaign manager for 'Team Swapo' as it fought tooth and nail against President Hage Geingob's 'Team Harambee'.
Team Swapo was beaten hands-down in the contest that was marred by allegations of vote-buying and rigging.
Two years later, while still holding onto his Swapo membership card, Itulamount his first presidential bid as an independent candidate, coming second to Geingob with 29%.
Since then, he never looked back, going on to form the Independent Patriots for Change (IPC) the following year.
IPC now has a presence in some major local authorities, including Windhoek, Swakopmund and Walvis Bay.
They are also represented in several regional councils.
Itula, who has crisscrossed Namibia's length and breadth for the past three years, has sung his gospel on rescuing Namibia from the chains of poverty, corruption and inept governance.
Mike Kavekotora (68)
Born Mike Ratoveni Kamboto at Ombuzu, north of Kunene's regional capital, Opuwo, Kavekotora is a seasoned executive, politician and farmer.
He is the current president of the Rally for Democracy and Progress (RDP). He resigned from the National Assembly last year to focus on the party's growth, and has since been on an aggressive recruitment and campaign drive. During his years in Parliament, Kavekotora was a passionate contributor to economic developmental matters, as well as speaking out about issues around poor governance and wasteful expenditure.
He is one of the MPs who rejected the N$18 billion genocide pact between Germany and Namibia. His conservative estimates highlight that the figure for the atrocities the Germans committed on Namibian soil is nothing less than N$13 trillion.
He has been adamant that for as long as corruption remains rampant, unemployment levels remain high and public resources continue to be distributed in a skewed manner, the RDP has a role to play in the political theatre.
Hendrik Gaobaeb (60)
The Sesfontein constituency councillor and Kunene Regional Council chairperson were a dark horse during the just-concluded United Democratic Front (UDF) intraparty congress over the weekend.
But burning the mid-oil at the watershed congress, he emerged victorious, ahead of party stalwarts Apius Auchab and Dudu Murorua. Little known to many Namibians, Gaobaeb has cemented himself as a force to be reckoned with in the UDF circles and the Kunene regional politics.
His victory, to those with an intimate understanding of UDF's political dynamics, did not come as a surprise.
He is a former member of the National Council, and has presided over its standing committee on public accounts and economic affairs.
His interest lies in the domains of land reform, while orphans and vulnerable members of society remain close to his heart.
Chief among his priorities as UDF leader is to unite members, infuse transparency and accountability, increase visibility in all regions, and include women and the youth in their top echelons.
For the first time in over a decade, UDF will have a different face on the ballot paper.
Evalistus Kaaronda (49)
Born in Otjozondjupa's regional capital, Otjiwarongo, at the age of 49, Kaaronda, at the height of his prowess, epitomised and gave meaning to what trade unionism ought to be about - the workers and their bread-and-butter issues.
After an investigation following allegations of misconduct, where it was alleged he made unauthorised public statements that discredited the National Union of Namibian Workers (NUNW)-affiliated unions, the then-secretary general of the NUNW was shown the door.
He spoke truth to power, which ultimately led to his downfall.
His criticisms included support for a people-orientated basic income grant, scepticism on the precarious short-term labour contracts proposed by the Targeted Intervention Programme for Employment and Economic Growth (TIPEEG), one of former president Hifikepunye Pohamba's brainchild, and demands to hold those who were responsible for the N$600 million Government Institutions Pension Fund (GIPF) that was lost through botched investments in a series of politically-connected start-ups to account.
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After years in the wilderness, Kaaronda re-emerged through the People Organised Working for Economic Reality (POWER), then founded and bankrolled by forex trader-turned-politician Michael Amushelelo to contest for the 2019 Presidential and National Assembly elections as their poster boy.
However, that plan never saw the light of day, and POWER has since disappeared into the political thin air, without an iota of trace.
Like a cat with nine lives, Kaaronda refused to die. This year, he is expected to lead Namibia's oldest political party, Swanu, to the proverbial 'Promised Land'.
Epaphras Mukwiilongo (52)
Businessman Jan Epaphras Mukwiilongo has been the Commander-in-Chief (CIC) of the self-styled Namibian Economic Freedom Fighters (NEFF) since 2014.
Like its carbon copy, EFF in South Africa under the stewardship of Julius Malema, NEFF is known for its left-wing economic views, including calls to nationalise Namibia's opulent natural resources and opposition toward unscrupulous foreign businesses, particularly Chinese and Indian abusers masquerading as investors.
NEFF got another boost when forex trader-cum-social justice activist Amushelelo joined its rank and file.
The party has since been very vocal in addressing workers' issues in all their manifestations.
Whether or not Mukwiilongo will feature on this year's ballot paper remains to be seen, as some in the party are pushing for an elective congress in a party that has never experienced internal contestation since its formation.
The NEFF has been unequivocal in placing Namibians' interests, albeit accused of double standards first.
