Oshakati Observation Tower at New market 2016-1

Oshakati is a town in northern

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 is the regional capital of the

Oshana Region Oshana is one of the fourteen regions of Namibia, its capital is Oshakati. The towns of Oshakati, Ongwediva and Ondangwa, all situated with this region, form an urban cluster with the second largest population concentration in Namibia after the c ...

and one of Namibia's largest places. 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 The South African Defence Force (SADF) (Afrikaans: ''Suid-Afrikaanse Weermag'') comprised the armed forces of South Africa from 1957 until 1994. Shortly before the state reconstituted itself as a republic in 1961, the former Union Defence F ...

(SADF) during the

South African Border War 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 ...

History

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 ''Oshi ...

, the language of the

Ovambo people The Ovambo people (), also called Aawambo, Ambo, Aawambo (Ndonga, Nghandjera, Kwambi, Kwaluudhi, Kolonghadhi, Mbalantu), or Ovawambo (Kwanyama) the biggest of the Aawambo sub-tribes are a Bantu peoples, Bantu ethnic group native to Southern Afric ...

, 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 ( high), the tallest structure in the town centre and in Namibia. On 19 February 1988, a

bomb blast An explosion is a rapid expansion in volume associated with an extreme outward release of energy, usually with the generation of high temperatures and release of high-pressure gases. Supersonic explosions created by high explosives are known ...

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.

Economy and infrastructure

Oshakati has experienced much development since Namibia achieved independence in 1990. It was proclaimed a town in 1992. Oshakati is located near the B1, Namibia's main highway, which stretches from

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

through the capital

Windhoek Windhoek (, , ) is the capital and largest city of Namibia. It is located in central Namibia in the Khomas Highland plateau area, at around above sea level, almost exactly at the country's geographical centre. The population of Windhoek in 20 ...

and on to the

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

n 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 Oshakati Independence Stadium is a football stadium in Oshakati, Oshana Region, Namibia. Home to Oshakati City F.C. formerly of the Namibia Premier League, Oshakati Independence Stadium can seat 8,000 spectators. It was built over seven years at a ...

is situated in town. In April 2006, the Oshakati town council building was inaugurated by

Botswana Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label=Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kalahar ...

's president

Festus Mogae Festus Gontebanye Mogae (born 21 August 1939) is a Botswana politician and economist who served as the third President of Botswana from 1998 to 2008. He succeeded Quett Masire as President in 1998 and was re-elected in October 2004; after ten y ...

. Dr. Frans Aupa Indongo Open Market sells groceries, dried fish and dried

Mopane worms ''Gonimbrasia belina'' is a species of emperor moth which is native to the warmer parts of southern Africa. Its large edible caterpillar, known as the mopane worm, madora, amacimbi or masontja, feeds primarily but not exclusively on mopane tree ...

Geography

Location

Oshakati is situated in the

Cuvelai-Etosha Basin The Cuvelai-Etosha Basin is a transboundary wetland area shared by Angola and Namibia extending over 450 kilometres from north to south. Covering almost 160,000 km2, the widest point of the basin is along the Angola-Namibia border from the Ku ...

and cut by the

Okatana River Okatana is an ephemeral river in the north of Namibia. It forms part of the Cuvelai basin. It has two channels, one running through Oshakati, serving as the boundary between the constituencies of Oshakati West and Oshakati East; the other running e ...

. 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 dike around the town, to deepen and straighten the river, and to resettle people living near the riverbed and clogging the flow of water.

Climate

Oshakati has a

semi-arid climate A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of semi-ar ...

(''BSh'', according to the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

), with hot summers and relatively mild winters (with warm days and cool nights). The average annual precipitation is , with most rainfall occurring mainly during summer.

Politics

Oshakati is governed by a town council that has seven seats. The town area covers two electoral constituencies,

Oshakati East Oshakati East is an electoral constituency in the Oshana Region of Namibia. It comprises the eastern parts of the town of Oshakati. The Okatana River separates Oshakati East from the Oshakati West constituency. The constituency had 22,634 inha ...

and

Oshakati West Oshakati West is an electoral constituency in the Oshana Region of Namibia. It contains the western parts of the town of Oshakati. The Okatana River separates Oshakati West from the Oshakati East constituency. The constituency had 20,015 inhabi ...

. Oshana Region, to which Oshakati belongs, is a stronghold of Namibia's ruling

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 ...

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 The Popular Democratic Movement (PDM), formerly the Democratic Turnhalle Alliance (DTA), is an amalgamation of political parties in Namibia, registered as one singular party for representation purposes. In coalition with the United Democratic ...

(DTA) which gained 330 votes. Major Katrina Shimbulu from SWAPO has been serving in this position from 2007 to 2010, and again after the 2015 election. SWAPO also won the 2020 local authority election. It obtained 3,028 votes and gained four seats. 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 November 2019 election, Itula won the best result of a losing candidat ...

(IPC), an opposition party formed in August 2020, obtained 1,887 votes and gained three seats.

Education

Formerly known as the ''Northern Campus'', Oshakati Campus is the oldest satellite campus of the

University of Namibia The University of Namibia (UNAM) is a multi-campus public research university in Namibia, as well as the largest university in the country. It was established by an act of Parliament on 31 August 1992. Background UNAM comprises the follow ...

, inaugurated on 7 May 1998 by

Sam Nujoma Samuel Shafiishuna Daniel Nujoma, (; born 12 May 1929) is a Namibian revolutionary, anti-apartheid activist and politician who served three terms as the first President of Namibia, from 1990 to 2005. Nujoma was a founding member and the first ...

, Founding President of the Republic of Namibia and UNAM founding chancellor. 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

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 The Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) is a bilateral United States foreign aid agency established by the U.S. Congress in 2004. It is an independent agency separate from the State Department and USAID. It provides grants to countries that ...

Namibia (MCA-N). 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.

Culture

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. The event was launched by Oshana governor

Clemens Kashuupulwa Clemens Handuukeme Kashuupulwa (born 14 November 1948) is a Namibian politician. He is the Governor of Oshana Region since 1998. He was re-appointed in 2010 by President Hifikepunye PohambaOshakati City FC.

References

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External links

USAID report on HIV/AIDS impact on Namibian municipalities, Volume 3: Oshakati
Populated places in the Oshana Region Regional capitals in Namibia Towns in Namibia 1966 establishments in South West Africa Populated places established in 1966