Town in Oshana Region, Namibia
Oshakati
is a town in northern
Namibia
. It is the regional capital of the
Oshana Region
and one of Namibia's largest cities both by population and as an economic center.
Oshakati was founded in July 1966 and proclaimed a town in 1992. The town was used as a base of operations by the
South African Defence Force
(SADF) during the
South African Border War
.
History
[
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]
In
Oshiwambo
, the language of the
Ovambo people
, the town's name means "that which is in between", although some believe that the name (Oshakati, also Otshakati) was used to refer to the broadcasting tower (275 metres (902 ft) high), the tallest structure in the town centre and in Namibia.
On 19 February 1988, a
bomb blast
occurred in Oshakati at the First National Bank, killing 27 people and badly injuring nearly 30 others, most of them nurses and teachers. No one was ever convicted of the bombing and the issue was dropped upon independence in 1990 in favour of national reconciliation.
[4]
Economy and infrastructure
[
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]
Oshakati has experienced much development since Namibia achieved independence in 1990. It was proclaimed a town in 1992.
[5]
Oshakati is located near the
B1
, Namibia's main highway, which stretches from
South Africa
through the capital
Windhoek
and on to the
Angolan
border.
Since the turn of the century, there are now many shops like Jet, Mr Price, furniture stores, shoes stores, pharmacies, etc. The three main shopping centres are Game, Etango, and Yetu. The
Oshakati Independence Stadium
is situated in town.
In April 2006, the Oshakati town council building was inaugurated by
Botswana
's president
Festus Mogae
. Dr.
Frans Aupa Indongo
Open Market sells groceries, dried fish and dried
Mopane worms
.
[6]
Geography
[
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]
Location
[
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]
Oshakati is situated in the
Cuvelai-Etosha Basin
and cut by the
Okatana River
. Both of these geographic features make the town prone to flooding; in 2008 it was last hit by heavy floods. The
Oshakati Master Plan Project
is underway to build a 23 kilometres (14 mi) dike around the town, to deepen and straighten the river, and to resettle people living near the riverbed and clogging the flow of water.
[7]
Climate
[
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]
Oshakati has a
semi-arid climate
(
BSh
, according to the
Koppen climate classification
), with hot summers and relatively mild winters (with warm days and cool nights). The average annual precipitation is 472 mm (19 in), with most rainfall occurring mainly during summer.
Oshakati
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Climate chart (
explanation
)
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Average max. and min. temperatures in °C
|
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Precipitation totals in mm
| Source:
World Climate Guide
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Imperial conversion
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Average max. and min. temperatures in °F
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Precipitation totals in inches
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Politics
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Oshakati is governed by a town council that has seven seats.
[8]
The town area covers two electoral constituencies,
Oshakati East
and
Oshakati West
.
Oshana Region, to which Oshakati belongs, is a stronghold of Namibia's ruling
SWAPO
party. In the
2015 local authority election
SWAPO won by a landslide (4,569 votes) and gained six council seats. The remaining seat went to the
Democratic Turnhalle Alliance
(DTA) which gained 330 votes.
[9]
Major
Katrina Shimbulu
from SWAPO has been serving in this position from 2007 to 2010, and again after the 2015 election.
[10]
SWAPO also won the
2020 local authority election
. It obtained 3,028 votes and gained four seats. The
Independent Patriots for Change
(IPC), an opposition party formed in August 2020, obtained 1,887 votes and gained three seats.
[11]
Leonard Hango is
[update]
mayor of Oshakati.
[1]
Education
[
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]
Formerly known as the
Northern Campus
, Oshakati Campus is the oldest satellite campus of the
University of Namibia
, inaugurated on 7 May 1998 by
Sam Nujoma
, Founding President of the Republic of Namibia and UNAM founding chancellor.
[12]
Many primary and secondary schools are to be found in Oshakati, e.g. Iipumbu, Oshakati, Ngolo,
Erundu Secondary School
, Cabatana and others, including Afoti Combined School in Uuvudhiya constituency in
Oshana Region
in the Omapopo cluster of Oshakati Circuit.
The Oshana Regional Study and Resource Center was established on September 17, 2014, through the assistance of the
Millennium Challenge Account
Namibia (MCA-N).
[13]
Situated between the GIPF house and the Social Security regional head office in Oshakati, the library can host up to 600 people, has 220 study spaces, a meeting hall that can accommodate 125 seated people, a video conferencing room, and shelving spaces for up to 35,000 books.
[14]
Culture
[
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]
Oshakati town, (popularly known as 'Otshakati tsha Nangombe' by the native Kwambi people) is within the Kwambi traditional authority.
Oshakati Town Council hosts the annual
Oshakati Totem Expo
. It combines the celebration of local traditions with a modern business exhibition.
[15]
The event was launched by Oshana governor
Clemens Kashuupulwa
, on 9 June 2012. It takes place annually for a period of four days in the months of June or July.
Oshakati has a football team,
Oshakati City FC
.
See also
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References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
Vatleni, Eino (27 November 2023).
"Northern re-elected mayors promise quality service delivery"
.
The Namibian
.
- ^
"Table 4.2.2 Urban population by Census years (2001 and 2011)"
(PDF)
.
Namibia 2011 - Population and Housing Census Main Report
. Namibia Statistics Agency. p. 39
. Retrieved
24 August
2016
.
- ^
"2023 Population & Housing Census Preliminary Report"
(PDF)
.
Statistics Namibia
.
- ^
Oswald Shivute (20 February 2007):
Oshakati bomb blast remembered
.
The Namibian
- ^
Ndeyanale, Eliaser (28 December 2021).
"Oshakati invites street name proposals"
.
The Namibian
.
- ^
"The photographs of Dr. Frans Aupa Indongo Open Market, October 2017"
.
Independent Travellers
. independent-travellers.com
. Retrieved
10 February
2018
.
- ^
Amukwaya, Yvonne (21 August 2014). "Towards a flood-free Oshakati".
The Namibian
. Focus on the North supplement, page 2.
- ^
"Know Your Local Authority".
Election Watch
. No. 3. Institute for Public Policy Research. 2015. p. 4.
- ^
"Local elections results"
.
Electoral Commission of Namibia
. 28 November 2015. p. 6. Archived from
the original
on 10 December 2015.
- ^
Ileka, Merja (7 December 2015).
"Shimbulu back as Oshakati mayor"
.
Namibian Sun
. Archived from
the original
on 4 March 2016
. Retrieved
17 December
2015
.
- ^
"2020 Local Authority Elections Results and Allocation of Seats"
(PDF)
.
Electoral Commission of Namibia
. 29 November 2020. p. 14. Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on 24 January 2021
. Retrieved
25 January
2021
.
- ^
"Oshakati Campus"
.
University of Namibia
. 27 October 2015
. Retrieved
28 May
2020
.
- ^
Oshana Regional Study and Resource Centre officially opened
Lela, September 17, 2014
- ^
Oshakati resource centre inaugurated
Archived
23 February 2016 at the
Wayback Machine
Haufiku, Edson, Informate, 18 September 2014
- ^
"Does the Oshakati Town Council offer bursaries, loans for businesses or SME funding?"
.
www.oshtc.na
. Archived from
the original
on 24 April 2014
. Retrieved
8 September
2017
.
External links
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]