With almost two months to go before the November elections, some parties have already released their manifestos, whereas others are still in the process of crafting them.

Election manifestos outline how the party aims to approach issues that are of concern to the public, the economy, and the nation.

Manifestos serve as a party's catalogue of commitments and promises to the electorate, with the expectation of gaining more votes.

Political analyst, Fanuel Kaapama, said a good manifesto should address issues that citizens grapple with in their daily lives as well as how the party will approach their objectives to honour their pledges.

Professor Kaapama, however, pointed out that many parties withhold details of how they will achieve these objectives to avoid being held accountable for not reaching expectations.

"Namibian taxpayers pay for the political party funding. What do the parties do with that money? How do they use the money to create that interface and keep the content on your manifestos relevant? And I think that is lacking."

Kaapama says one of the major challenges is the language barrier, as most of the manifestos are only in English, making it difficult for citizens to make informed decisions when casting their votes.

He also urged citizens to not cast their votes based on manifestos but rather on how the parties plan to take steps towards reaching their set objectives.

"Political parties in the time of elections are like salesmen that you find in different places, like furniture shops. So they would exaggerate to sell their product, which is their party. So the key issue is, Does the voter have the capacity to digest and to make the decision as to whether this is realistic and this is a non-realistic promise?"

Kaapama added that political interest within the youth has dwindled over the decades due to a lack of awareness.

He says the youth would rather resort to engaging on social media rather than reading newspapers, watching the news, or listening to the radio.