The Landless People's Movement (LPM) and National Democratic Party (NDP) have opted not to participate in the by-elections scheduled for 17 June.
The by-elections will be held in five constituencies: Kamanjab and Sesfontein in the Kunene region, Otjiwarongo and Grootfontein in the Otjozondjupa region, and Kabbe South in the Zambezi region.
The polls follow the resignation of five regional councillors in March, who vacated their positions to take up seats in the National Assembly.
The deadline for candidate registration with the Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) was 8 May.
LPM spokesperson Lifalaza Simataa says the party has decided not to field candidates, citing the short duration of the term before the regional and local authority elections slated for November.
"The elections are at the end of the year. Any victory in the by-elections at this juncture would be short-lived, as we are already halfway through the year. Better focus on the elections at the end of the year," he says.
Meanwhile, the United Democratic Front (UDF) confirmed it would not contest the Otjiwarongo by-election but will field candidates for Kamanjab, Sesfontein, and Grootfontein.
UDF spokesperson Mabasen Narib confirmed this over the weekend.
Narib said the party's central committee decided not to contest at Otjiwarongo as it is not ideal for it to do so.
He said the party does not need to contest wherever there is a by-election.
Both Kamanjab and Sesfontein were previously held by UDF councillors as the Kunene region remains a stronghold for the party.
According to Narib, the party has fielded Moritos Gaingob at Grootfontein, whom he described as an experienced community activist.
In the Kamanjab and Sesfontein constituencies, the party has fielded Jakobus Buruxa and Bernadus Hoeb, respectively. Buruxa will square off with Independent Patriots for Change (IPC) candidate Dansiekie Ganaseb and Nikodemus Amutenya of Swapo.
In the Sesfontein constituency, the UDF's Hoeb will battle out against Titus Rungondo for Swapo, Bennie Ganaseb for the IPC and Joshua Vemuii Kaisuma for the Popular Democratic Movement (PDM).
Meanwhile, NDP president Martin Lukato says his party intended to contest in Kabbe South, but was unable to register its candidate due to flooding in the region.
"There was a delay in registering our candidate with the ECN. He lives in the floodplain and was affected by the flood, which made registration impossible," he says.
Despite setbacks, Lukato says the NDP plans to contest in all constituencies during the upcoming regional and local authority elections later this year.
Only Swapo and the IPC have registered to participate in the Kabbe South constituency by-election.
The IPC is represented by Sydney Shamwazi.
At Otjiwarongo, Swapo has fielded Paulus Nekundi, while in Kabbe South the ruling party's candidate is Raymond Sezuni.
The Namibia Economic Freedom Fighters (NEFF) fielded Gabriel Mannase.
This is the only constituency in which NEFF has registered to participate.
NEFF deputy president Kalimbo Iipumbu says the party fielded a candidate at Otjiwarongo only because the leadership of other constituencies were not ready to elect their candidate.
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
At Grootfontein, Swapo is represented by former councillor Nelao Amagulu.
Amagulu served as Grootfontein councillor for eight years.
The PDM has fielded Rosina Nuses in the Grootfontein constituency.
Swapo's coordinator for the Otjozondjupa constituency, Imms Namaseb, says if the party works hard it retain both the Otjiwarongo and Grootfontein constituencies.
Swapo deputy secretary general Uahekua Herunga says Swapo is optimistic about winning in all the five constituencies.
"In the previous elections, we lost Sesfontein by less than 30 votes and Kamanjab by less than 100 votes.
This time we are hard at work and optimistic that we will sweep the five constituencies," he says.
