Vice President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah is a strong contender to become Namibia's first female leader as the country votes in a presidential election.

Namibia: Voters waited in long queues outside polling stations in the capital Windhoek on Wednesday morning to cast ballots for a new president and parliament in what could be a tough election to win for the ruling SWAPO party.

Bernadus Swartbooi (47 ): He leads the Landless People’s Movement (LPM) which campaigns for land redistribution to Namibians whose land was dispossessed by German settlers in the 1900s. The LPM has four seats in parliament. In 2019, Swartbooi, formerly of SWAPO, won 3 percent of the vote.

McHenry Venaani (47): He is the leader of the Popular Democratic Movement (PDM), Namibia’s largest opposition party. Although the party holds 16 out of 96 seats in parliament, the most after SWAPO, Venaani only managed to clinch 5% of the votes in 2019 when he ran for president.

WINDHOEK, Namibia (AP) — A 72-year-old woman who joined Namibia's independence movement in the 1970s is a strong contender to become its first female leader as the country votes in a presidential election on Wednesday.

Namibians will vote on Wednesday in what is expected to be the most competitive election yet for the ruling SWAPO party, which has governed the southern African nation for 34 years.

Almost a million of the registered voters for Namibia's general elections on Wednesday are below the age of 42, and there are more women than men registered to vote, according to the Namibian Electoral Commission.

Namibians go to the polls on Wednesday to elect a new president and parliament in what could be a tough election for the ruling SWAPO party, which is seeking to extend its 34-year rule. SWAPO has governed the southern African nation since leading it to independence from apartheid South Africa in 1990.