Omuntele Constituency is an

electoral constituency An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other poli ...

in the

Oshikoto Region Oshikoto is one of the fourteen regions of Namibia, named after Lake Otjikoto. Its capital is Omuthiya. The city of Tsumeb, Otjikoto's capital until 2008, and the towns of Omuthiya and Oniipa are also situated in this region. , Oshikoto had 112, ...

on the northern part of

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

. It had 21,884 inhabitants in 2004 and 9,854 registered voters . The district capital is the settlement of Omuntele. The constituency is situated in the northwest part of Oshikoto about 60 km southeast of

Ondangwa Ondangwa (earlier spelling ''Ondangua'') is a town in the Oshana Region of northern Namibia, bordering the Oshikoto Region. Ondangwa was first established as a mission station of the Finnish Missionary Society (the FMS) in 1890. In 1914, it became ...

. The constituency is currently led by Sakeus 'Sacky' Nangula, councillor for

SWAPO The South West Africa People's Organisation (, SWAPO; af, Suidwes-Afrikaanse Volks Organisasie, SWAVO; german: Südwestafrikanische Volksorganisation, SWAVO), officially known as the SWAPO Party of Namibia, is a political party and former ind ...

. It is dominated by

Oshiwambo The Ovambo () language is a dialect cluster spoken by the Ovambo people in southern Angola and northern Namibia, of which the written standards are Kwanyama and Ndonga. The native name for the language is ''Oshiwambo'' (also written ''Oshiv ...

speaking people and a small number San people. People in the area survive in cultivating crops.

Mahangu Pearl millet (''Cenchrus americanus'', commonly known as the synonym ''Pennisetum glaucum''; also known as 'Bajra' in Hindi, 'Sajje' in Kannada, 'Kambu' in Tamil, 'Bajeer' in Kumaoni and 'Maiwa' in Hausa, 'Mexoeira' in Mozambique) is the most w ...

is the principal crop in the area.

History

The area was established by Silvanus Nyambali Nehale, son of

Ondonga Ondonga is a traditional kingdom of the Ovambo people in what is today northern Namibia. Its capital is Ondangwa, and the kingdom's palace is at Onambango. Its people call themselves ''Aandonga''. They speak the Ndonga dialect. The Ondonga kingdom ...

Chief Chief may refer to: Title or rank Military and law enforcement * Chief master sergeant, the ninth, and highest, enlisted rank in the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force * Chief of police, the head of a police department * Chief of the boa ...

Nehale Mpingana Nehale lya Mpingana (died 28 April 1908) was '' Omukwaniilwa'' of Ondonga, a subtribe of the Owambo, in German South West Africa. Their tribal area is situated around Namutoni Namutoni is a restcamp on the edge of Etosha pan in the Oshikoto Reg ...

. During the

Namibian War of Independence The South African Border War, also known as the Namibian War of Independence, and sometimes denoted in South Africa as the Angolan Bush War, was a largely asymmetric conflict that occurred in Namibia (then South West Africa), Zambia, and Angol ...

many people from this area went into exile to

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

and took up arms there. However, between 1976 and 1980 combatants of the

People's Liberation Army of Namibia The People's Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN) was the military wing of the South West Africa People's Organisation (SWAPO). It fought against the South African Defence Force (SADF) and South West African Territorial Force (SWATF) during the Sout ...

(PLAN) lived at Omuntele as civilians as part of a covert reconnaissance operation. There were a number of battles in and around Omuntele like the one at Oshalongo in which Commander Max Nekongo was seriously injured. Nekongo is currently the councillor of

Onayena Constituency Onayena Constituency is an electoral constituency in the Oshikoto Region of Namibia. The district capital is the settlement of Onayena. The constituency's population has grown significantly over recent years, dominated by the Ovambo language sp ...

Politics

Omuntele constituency is traditionally a stronghold of the

South West Africa People's Organization The South West Africa People's Organisation (, SWAPO; af, Suidwes-Afrikaanse Volks Organisasie, SWAVO; german: Südwestafrikanische Volksorganisation, SWAVO), officially known as the SWAPO Party of Namibia, is a political party and former ind ...

(SWAPO) party. In the 2009 general election, incumbent President and

candidate

Hifikepunye Pohamba Hifikepunye Lucas Pohamba (born 18 August 1936) is a Namibian politician who served as the second president of Namibia from 21 March 2005 to 21 March 2015. He won the 2004 presidential election overwhelmingly as the candidate of SWAPO, and was ...

received 98% of the votes for President.Omuntele
Swapoparty.org results In the 2015 local and regional elections the SWAPO candidate Sakeus Nangula won uncontested and remained councillor after no opposition party nominated a candidate. He was re-elected with 3,869 votes in the 2020 regional election. The only opposition candidate, Erkki Shivute of the

Independent Patriots for Change The Independent Patriots for Change (IPC) is a political party in Namibia. It was founded by Panduleni Itula in August 2020. As an independent presidential candidate in the 2019 Namibian general election, November 2019 election, Itula won the b ...

(IPC), a party formed in August 2020, obtained 1,659 votes.

References

{{coord, 18.2333, S, 16.2333, E, source:wikidata, display=title Constituencies of Oshikoto Region States and territories established in 1992 1992 establishments in Namibia

History

Politics

See also

References