Outapi wa Nakafingo na Temba, also Outapi or Uutapi and Ombalantu, 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 ...

near the border with

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

situated northwest of

Oshakati Oshakati is a town in northern Namibia. It is the regional capital of the Oshana Region 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 S ...

. It is the capital of

Omusati region Omusati ( ng, Mopane, after the dominant tree in the area) is one of the fourteen regions of Namibia, its capital is Outapi. The towns of Okahao, Oshikuku and Ruacana as well as the self-governed village Tsandi are situated in this region. , Omus ...

and the district capital of the Outapi electoral constituency. The language spoken there is

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 town normally receives an annual average rainfall of , although in the 2010/2011 rainy season were measured.

Economy and infrastructure

In 2001, Outapi was the smallest town in Namibia, with a population of just over 2,600. It is, however, developing rapidly. There is a large number of newly constructed government buildings and shops in the south of the town. The town features several schools, a community hall, a hospital and a police station. There are two open markets, one at the

baobab tree ''Adansonia'' is a genus made up of eight species of medium-to-large deciduous trees known as baobabs ( or ). They are placed in the Malvaceae family, subfamily Bombacoideae. They are native to Madagascar, mainland Africa, and Australia.Tropi ...

and one at Onhimbu. There is also a tourist lodge.

Culture and tourism

Within the former

South African Army The South African Army is the principal land warfare force of South Africa, a part of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF), along with the South African Air Force, South African Navy and South African Military Health Service. ...

base is the famous ''Omukwa''

Ombalantu baobab tree Outapi wa Nakafingo na Temba, also Outapi or Uutapi and Ombalantu, is a town in northern Namibia near the border with Angola situated northwest of Oshakati. It is the capital of Omusati region and the district capital of the Outapi electoral co ...

, a

baobab ''Adansonia'' is a genus made up of eight species of medium-to-large deciduous trees known as baobabs ( or ). They are placed in the Malvaceae family, subfamily Bombacoideae. They are native to Madagascar, mainland Africa, and Australia.Tropic ...

whose huge hollow trunk has been used in the past as a post office, a chapel, and a coffee shop, and houses a craft shop. The town hosts the annual

Olufuko Festival Olufuko (from an Oshiwambo word meaning wedding) is an annual festival held in Outapi, Namibia. It was officially opened 23 August 2012 by Sam Nujoma, former founding President of the Republic of Namibia. Outapi is a town in Omusati Region in Nam ...

, which was initiated in 2012. The festival is a combination of a business expo and cultural celebrations, of which the initiation ceremony that prepares teenage girls for womanhood is the heart of the festival. Namibia's first president and founding father,

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 ...

, is the patron of the Olufuko Festival.

Politics

Outapi is governed by a town council that has seven seats. Omusati Region, to which Outapi 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. For the 2015 local authority election no opposition party nominated a candidate, and SWAPO won all seven seats uncontested. SWAPO also won the 2020 local authority election. It obtained 721 votes and gained five 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 2019 Namibian general election, November 2019 election, Itula won the b ...

(IPC), an opposition party formed in August 2020, obtained 357 votes and gained the remaining two seats.

References

{{Reflist, 30em Towns in Namibia Populated places in the Omusati Region