Omaheke Region
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Omaheke ( hz,
Sandveld Veld ( or ), also spelled veldt, is a type of wide open rural landscape in :Southern Africa. Particularly, it is a flat area covered in grass or low scrub, especially in the countries of South Africa, Lesotho, Eswatini, Zimbabwe and Botswa ...
) is one of the fourteen
regions of Namibia Namibia uses regions as its first-level subnational administrative divisions. Since 2013, it has 14 regions which in turn are subdivided into 121 constituencies. Upon Namibian independence, the pre-existing subdivisions from the South African ...
, the least populous region. Its capital is
Gobabis , nickname = , settlement_type = City , motto = Ex Oriente Lux , image_skyline = Gobabis Namibia aerial.jpg , imagesize = 300px , imag ...
. It lies in eastern Namibia on the border with
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 ...
and is the western extension of the
Kalahari desert The Kalahari Desert is a large semi-arid sandy savanna in Southern Africa extending for , covering much of Botswana, and parts of Namibia and South Africa. It is not to be confused with the Angolan, Namibian, and South African Namib coastal d ...
. The self-governed villages of
Otjinene Otjinene is a village in the Omaheke Region of Namibia. It is the district capital of Otjinene Constituency. Otjinene is connected via a tarred road to the regional capital Gobabis, and via a road which was tarred in 2017 from Otjinene to Groo ...
, Leonardville and
Witvlei Witvlei ( af, White marsh) is a village in Okarukambe Constituency in the Omaheke Region of central-eastern Namibia. It is situated on the B6 from Windhoek on the way to Gobabis. It is known for producing high quality meat. History The or ...
are situated in the region. , Omaheke had 48,594 registered voters.


Economy and infrastructure

Gobabis is the centre of this area and also its main business area, as it is linked with the capital of Namibia,
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 ...
, by rail and the tarred B6 national road. This infrastructure serves as the main supply line for the region. All the other population centres in the region are linked with Gobabis by road. Many other services are rendered from Gobabis to the region, such as the Police Divisional Headquarters, which is situated in Gobabis. Clinics in the region are served by medical practitioners based in Gobabis, and there are two hospitals and a clinic serving the region. The agricultural patterns of this region is to a large extent homogenous. Most of the 900 commercial and 3,500 communal farmers in this area are cattle breeders. A regional office of the Ministry of Agriculture, serving the whole region, is based in Gobabis. Hunting, including trophy hunting, is one of the major sources of income for the region. This takes place mainly in the winter months, from June to August. During these months, tourists from the northern hemisphere can be seen in the area, enjoying the mild and dry winter climate and collecting trophies. In 2013 Omaheke had 42 government schools with a total of 18,365 pupils.


Politics

Upon
independence of Namibia 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 ...
, Hereroland East was absorbed into Omaheke Region. The region comprises seven
constituencies 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 polity ...
: *
Aminuis Aminuis is a cluster of small settlements in the remote eastern part of the Omaheke Region of Namibia, located about 500 km east of Windhoek. It is the district capital of the Aminuis electoral constituency. Economy and Infrastructure Ami ...
*
Epukiro Epukiro is a cluster of small settlements in the remote eastern part of the Omaheke Region of Namibia, situated about northeast of the regional capital Gobabis. The centre of the populated area is the Catholic mission station. Epukiro had about ...
*
Gobabis , nickname = , settlement_type = City , motto = Ex Oriente Lux , image_skyline = Gobabis Namibia aerial.jpg , imagesize = 300px , imag ...
*
Kalahari The Kalahari Desert is a large semi-arid sandy savanna in Southern Africa extending for , covering much of Botswana, and parts of Namibia and South Africa. It is not to be confused with the Angolan, Namibian, and South African Namib coasta ...
* Okorukambe (formerly ''Steinhausen'') *
Otjinene Otjinene is a village in the Omaheke Region of Namibia. It is the district capital of Otjinene Constituency. Otjinene is connected via a tarred road to the regional capital Gobabis, and via a road which was tarred in 2017 from Otjinene to Groo ...
* Otjombinde


Presidential elections

In the 2004 presidential election, the Omaheke Region supported
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 ...
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 wa ...
with 13,005 votes (46%) but the
Ohangwena Region Ohangwena is one of the fourteen regions of Namibia, its capital is Eenhana. Major settlements in the region are the towns Eenhana and Helao Nafidi aa well as the self-governed village of Okongo. , Ohangwena had 150,724 registered voters. Ohang ...
native did not win a majority of the votes in the region.
National Unity Democratic Organisation The National Unity Democratic Organisation (NUDO) is a political party in Namibia. It has been represented in the National Assembly of Namibia and in the National Council of Namibia since it split from the Democratic Turnhalle Alliance (now PDM ...
(NUDO)'s
Kuaima Riruako Kuaima Isaac Riruako (24 April 1935CV at Namibian Parliament website
, paramount chief of the Herero people, received over 7,000 votes (25%), and 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)'s Katuutire Kaura received over 3,700 votes (13%). Only in the much more populated
Khomas Region Khomas is one of the fourteen regions of Namibia. Its name refers to the Khomas Highland, a high plateau landscape that dominates this administrative unit. Khomas is centered on the capital city Windhoek and provides for this reason superior tran ...
and neighboring
Otjozondjupa Region Otjozondjupa is one of the fourteen regions of Namibia. Its capital is Otjiwarongo. The region further contains the municipalities of Okahandja and Grootfontein and the towns Okakarara and Otavi. , Otjozondjupa had 97,945 registered voters. Ge ...
did Riruako gain more votes, and in no other region did NUDO's candidate gain a higher percentage of the votes.


Regional elections

In the 2015 regional elections SWAPO obtained 54% of the total votes (
2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...
: 47%) and won four of the seven constituencies. NUDO obtained 23% of the total votes (
2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...
: 26%) and won Aminuis and Otjinene, while Otjombinde was won by an independent candidate. Although SWAPO's support dropped to 44% of the total votes in the 2020 regional election, it won five of the seven constituencies, while NUDO (23% total) kept its strongholds Otjinene and Aminuis.


Governors

* ''unknown'' (1992–2001) *
Laura McLeod-Katjirua Laura Veendapi McLeod-Katjirua is a Namibian politician who has been Governor of the Khomas Region since 2012 and Deputy Secretary General of SWAPO since 2012. Previously she was Governor of Omaheke Region from 2001 to 2012. She was transferred ...
(
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 ...
, 2001–2012) * Rapama Kamehozu (2012–2013) *
Festus Ueitele Festus Ueitele is a Namibian politician who has been Governor of Omaheke Region from April 2013 to April 2020. He was placed 49th on the SWAPO electoral list prior to the 2009 general election and, as SWAPO won 54 seats, he was elected to the Nati ...
(2013–2020) * Pijoo Nganate (2020–present)


Demographics

According to the 2012 Namibia Labour Force Survey, unemployment in the Omaheke Region is 34.1%.


Language

According to the 2011 census, 43% of the population speak
Otjiherero Herero (, ''Otjiherero'') is a Bantu language spoken by the Herero and Mbanderu peoples in Namibia and Botswana, as well as by small communities of people in southwestern Angola. There were 211,700 speakers in 2014. Distribution Its linguisti ...
, 30% speak Nama/Damara and 8% speak
Afrikaans Afrikaans (, ) is a West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch vernacular of Holland proper (i.e., the Hollandic dialect) used by Dutch, French, and German settlers and their enslaved people. Afrikaans gra ...
at home.


Characteristics

In the east, Omaheke borders are three
districts of Botswana Botswana is divided into 10 administrative district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning reg ...
: *
North-West The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, Radius, radially arrayed compass directions (or Azimuth#In navigation, azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east ...
- northern *
Ghanzi Ghanzi is a town in the middle of the Kalahari Desert the western part of the Republic of Botswana in southern Africa. The region is the country's pride in contributing a large portion towards the beef industry. In fact, Ghanzi farmers provides ...
- eastern * Kgalagadi - southern Domestically, it borders the following regions: *
Hardap Hardap is one of the fourteen regions of Namibia, its capital is Mariental. Hardap contains the municipality of Mariental, the towns Rehoboth and Aranos, and the self-governed villages Gibeon, Gochas, Kalkrand, Stampriet and Maltahöhe. It is ...
- south *
Khomas Khomas is one of the fourteen regions of Namibia. Its name refers to the Khomas Highland, a high plateau landscape that dominates this administrative unit. Khomas is centered on the capital city Windhoek and provides for this reason superior trans ...
- west *
Otjozondjupa Otjozondjupa is one of the fourteen regions of Namibia. Its capital is Otjiwarongo. The region further contains the municipalities of Okahandja and Grootfontein and the towns Okakarara and Otavi. , Otjozondjupa had 97,945 registered voters. Geog ...
- north Omaheke is traversed by the northwesterly line of equal latitude and longitude. A large part of this region is known as the ''Sandveld''. The northeastern part of the region is still very much wilderness. Anthropologically, almost the entire Ovambanderu and Gobabis-Juǀwa ethnic groups reside in the region. Furthermore, it is a rich cultural area for Herero, Damara-Nama, Tswana, Afrikaners and Germans. One of its notable event is the annual Meat Festival.


History

On 11 August 1904, a German armed force with artillery and machine guns, which had encircled the Herero who had fled to the Waterberg in Namibia, attacked and forced the survivors to flee to the Omaheke desert, where large numbers died. Those who tried to emerge from the desert were killed by German patrols along the perimeter of the Omaheke. Olusoga, David and Erichsen, Casper W (2010). ''The Kaiser's Holocaust. Germany's Forgotten Genocide and the Colonial Roots of Nazism''. Faber and Faber. This was the turning point in the
Herero and Namaqua Genocide The Herero and Namaqua genocide or the Herero and Nama genocide was a campaign of ethnic extermination and collective punishment waged by the German Empire against the Herero (Ovaherero) and the Nama in German South West Africa (now Namibia). I ...
.


External links


References

{{Authority control Otjiherero words and phrases Regions of Namibia States and territories established in 1992 1992 establishments in Namibia