Namibia Elections at a Glance Presidential Candidates 2019

News | 2019-11-28
HILENI NEMBWAYA and TERTTU NEWAKA
The Namibian

HUNDREDS of thousands of voters headed to the polls yesterday to elect the country's next president, with many hoping that the polls will bring political stability, unity and economic emancipation.

The 2019 presidential hopefuls are as follows:

Hage Gottfried Geingob, (78).

• Third and current President of Namibia since 21 March 2015

• Country's prime minister from 21 March 1990 to 28 August 2002, and served as prime minister again from 04 December 2012 to 20 March 2015.

• Between 2008 and 2012, Geingob served as minister of trade and industry.

• He is also the president of the ruling Swapo Party since his election to the position in November 2017.

• Geingob won the previous presidential election with 87% votes in 2014.

• He holds a BA degree from Fordham University in New York, and an MA degree in international relations from the graduate faculty of The New School in New York.

Panduleni Fillemon Bango Itula (62)

• Independent candidate for presidential election

• He is a politician, dentist, lawyer, and former chief dentist at the Katutura Intermediate Hospital, as well as a former lecturer at the Swapo party school.

McHenry Venaani (42)

• Venaani is president of the Popular Democratic Movement (PDM)

• At the time of his appointment in 2002, he was Namibia's youngest member of parliament.

• Venaani studied at the University of Wolverhampton.

• At the 2013 DTA elective central committee meeting, Venaani defeated then party leader Katuutire Kaura to take over the reins.

Bernadus Clinton Swartbooi (42)

• Bernadus Swartbooi is a politician and former governor of the //Kharas region before his appointment as deputy minister of land reform in 2015, a position he was subsequently forced to resign from in 2017.

• Swartbooi also holds a basic education teaching diploma from the Windhoek College of Education, and a B Juris as well as a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Namibia.

• In 2017, Swartbooi was removed from parliament and resigned from Swapo, after which he formed the Landless People's Movement (LPM).

Mike Kavekotora (63)

• Kavekotora is the president of the Rally for Democracy and Progress (RDP), an opposition party which was launched in 2007.

• He is the chairman of the Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee, the only opposition party member chairing a parliamentary standing committee.

• Kavekotora holds a master of arts in developmental economics from Long Island University in New York, United States, and a BSc degree in accounting from Mercy College, also in New York.

Esther Utjiua Muinjangue (57)

• Muinjangue is the president of the National Unity Democratic Organisation (Nudo).

• She became the party's first elected female president, and the first female to lead a political movement, in Namibia's history in March this year.

• Muinjangue is a trained social worker, and worked in the ministry of health for many years. She also lectured at the University of Namibia (Unam).

• She has been instrumental in the call for genocide reparation negotiations between the German and Namibian governments.

Tangeni Iijambo (?)

• Iiyambo is a politician, and has been the president of the South West Africa National Union (Swanu) since 2017.

• He is the party's fourth president, and also lectured at Unam.

• Swanu was founded in 1959.

• Iiyambo has served in the National Assembly of Namibia since 2018.

Apius Auchab (60)

• President of UDF since 2013.

• Former regional councillor of the Daures constituency in the Erongo region.

• Vice President of UDF, (2009 - 2014); Community Activist, (1990 - 1998); Teacher, (1981 – 1990);

Participating political parties

1. All People's Party (APP)

2. Christian Democratic Voice (CDV)

3. Congress of Democrats (COD)

4. Landless People's Movement (LPM)

5. Namibia Economic Freedom Fighters (NEFF)

6. Namibia Patriotic Front (NPF)

7. National Democratic Party (NDP)

8. National Unity Democratic Organisation (NUDO)

9. Popular Democratic Movement (PDM)

10. Rally for Democracy

and Progress (RDP)

11. Republican Party (RP)

12. SWANU of Namibia (SWANU)

13. SWAPO Party of Namibia (SWAPO)

14. United Democratic Front

of Namibia (UDF)

15. Workers Revolutionary Party (WRP)