WINDHOEK, Nov. 14 (Xinhua) -- Political analyst in Namibia said President Hage Geingob is poised to retain his presidency albeit with a reduced margin.
University of Namibia Senior Lecturer and Political Analyst Ndumba Kamwayah in an interview with Xinhua on Thursday said Geingob has odds stuck in his favour because of the ruling SWAPO party dominance in Namibian politics.
He said while Namibia will have a large number of the youth vote who are grappling with unemployment and economic challenges, traditional SWAPO supporters from the rural areas are most likely to carry Geingob through despite facing a stiff challenge from eight other candidates.
Namibia heads to the elections on November 27 with eight candidates contesting for the country's ticket to state house.
President Geingob for the first time faces some sort of challenge from another SWAPO party member Panduleni Itula who will contest as independent candidate, while McHenry Venaani of the Popular Democratic Movement is going for his second attempt at Namibia's top job.
Other candidates include Landless People's Movement president Bernadus Swartbooi, Rally for Democracy and Progress president Mike Kavekotora, SWANU president Tangeni Iiyambo as well as the only female candidate Esther Muinjangue representing NUDO.
"Realistically I think Geingob will pull through but the issue is whether he will be able to carry through the dominance that he had last time. My belief is that his margin of win will go down because of the economic challenges in the country where most people are apportioning blame to him." Kamwanyah said.
Another economic and political analyst Omu Kakujaha-Matundu also added that President Geingob only faces a reality of decreasing votes from the last election but whether he will win or not is not in question.
"Well the issue is that his win is not in question whatsoever but the margin will not be the same. I would be glad if he can do more to tackle corruption and also find a way of dealing with the economic challenges," he said.
