Fourteen political parties competed for seats in the National Assembly of Namibia, and twelve candidates ran for the presidency.

[3] The ruling SWAPO party set a goal of winning all 72 seats in the National Assembly and controlling the NA "until the second coming of Jesus Christ".

On 16 October 2009, the National Unity Democratic Organisation (NUDO) was the first political party to officially submit their candidate, Kuaima Riruako, for president.

[9] Though the country planned to buy electronic voting machines from India sometime in 2009, the Electoral Commission assured the National Assembly that they would not be used in the 2009 elections.

[14] The accuracy of the results of this election has been questioned, not only by the defeated opposition parties but also by the Namibian Society of Human Rights (NSHR).