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 e ...

near the border with

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situated northwest of Oshakati. It is the capital of Omusati region and the district capital of the Outapi electoral constituency. The language spoken there is Oshiwambo. 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 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, 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.Trop ...

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, 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, 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 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 (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