Ongwediva is a town in 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 ...

in the north of

Namibia Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...

. It is the district capital of the Ongwediva electoral constituency. it had 33,777 inhabitants and covered 4,102 hectares of land. Ongwediva has seven churches. Most of the inhabitants speak

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 ...

History

Ongwediwa started out as a Finnish

mission station A Christian mission is an organized effort to carry on evangelism, in the name of the Christian faith. Missions involve sending individuals and groups across boundaries, most commonly geographical boundaries. Sometimes individuals are sent and ...

in 1926. A school for male students was built there at the time, focusing on practical skills. It is talked about as an agricultural and industrial school, although the agricultural emphasis soon faded away. The school started in February 1927, and it was a secondary school, which one could attend after completing primary school. Towards the end of the 1920s, the school started to receive subsidies from the

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

n government, although this was only a modest £100 per year. The male teacher training seminary was transferred from

Oniipa Oniipa is a town in the Oshikoto Region of northern Namibia and the district capital of the Oniipa electoral constituency. It lies just outside Ondangwa. History Oniipa was established in 1872 by the Finnish Missionary Society. In 2014 it became ...

to Ongwediva at the end of 1954. It continues today as part of the Faculty of Education of the

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

. The civilian settlement of Ongwediva was established in the 1960s while Namibia was under

n occupation, in the area of headman Mr Nandjebo Mengela. Its purpose was to serve as a residential area for people employed by businesses and government in

Oshakati Oshakati is a town in northern Namibia. It is the regional capital of the Oshana Region and one of Namibia's largest cities both by population and as an economic center. It had a population of 58,656 people in 2023. Oshakati was founded i ...

and

Ondangwa Ondangwa (earlier spelling ''Ondangua'') is a town in the Oshana Region of northern Namibia, bordering the Oshikoto Region. It had a population of 30,364 people in 2023. Ondangwa was first established as a mission station of the Finnish Missi ...

Economy and development

Ongwediva hosts an annual trade fair, the Ongwediva Annual Trade Fair (OATF) since 2000, after one initial trade fair, the Northern Namibia Trade Fair, was held in 1995. Opposite of the open market, there is a shopping mall (Maroela Mall, Mandume Ndemufayo St.). Ongwediva is an urban area that experiences rapid growth. Ongwediva is the second largest entertainment town in

just behind 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, which ...

. Ongwediva is a fast-growing town in terms of development and status as a second most livable town in

. It also features one of the few private hospitals in Namibia.

Politics

Ongwediva is governed by a town council that has seven seats. Oshana Region, to which Ongwediva belongs, is a stronghold of Namibia's ruling

SWAPO The South West Africa People's Organisation (SWAPO ; , SWAVO; , SWAVO), officially known as the SWAPO Party of Namibia, is a political party and former independence movement in Namibia (formerly South West Africa). Founded in 1960, it has been ...

party. In the 2015 local authority election SWAPO won by a landslide (2,264 votes) and gained all seven council seats. The Rally for Democracy and Progress (RDP) also ran but gained only 166 votes. SWAPO also won the 2020 local authority election. It obtained 1,681 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 2019 election, Itula won the best result of a losing candidate in a ...

(IPC), an opposition party formed in August 2020, obtained 952 votes and gained three seats.

Mayors

* Patricia Kashuupulwa (2010) * Taarah Shalyefu (current)

Education

There are currently only two high schools in Ongwediva,

Mweshipandeka High School Mweshipandeka High School is a school in Ongwediva in the Oshana region of northern Namibia. It is one of the well known schools in the country, and is located in the center of Ongwediva, in Libertina Amadhila street, next to Kleine Kuppe Private ...

and

Gabriel Taapopi SSS Gabriel Taapopi Senior Secondary School, also known as GT, is a governmental secondary school in Ongwediva in the Oshana Region of northern Namibia. The school opened its doors in 1988 and was officially inaugurated in 1989 by then SWAPO T ...

. There are also five primary schools. The newly created Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology of the

is based in Ongwediva, and started its first official academic year in 2009. The José Eduardo dos Santos Campus is by far the largest physical development in Ongwediva. The Campus has already been described by the Namibian press as a Star in the North. There was also an educational college for teachers. The University of Namibia (Unam) Ongwediva Campus has been named after President Hifikepunye Pohamba. The campus was formally known as

Ongwediva College of Education The Ongwediva College of Education (OCE) was one of four pedagogical colleges in Namibia. It offered three-year undergraduate diploma courses in basic vocational education to elementary and high school teachers: the Basic Education Teacher Diploma ( ...

(OCE), and also got to be known as the Unam Ongwediva Campus when all colleges of education merged with Unam in 2010.

Notable residents

* Benjamin Hauwanga, businessman, owner of Bennies Entertainment Park and Lodge and the BH Group of Companies * Sunny Boy, hip hop and kwaito musician *

Erastus Uutoni Erastus Amutenya Uutoni (born 29 January 1961) is a Namibian SWAPO politician who has served in the cabinet of Namibia since March 2010 to 21 March 2025 Uutoni was born on 29 January 1961 in Omatando, near Ongwediva in Ovamboland of South We ...

, politician and former mayor of the town *

Benson Shilongo Benson Shilongo (born 18 May 1992) is a Namibian professional footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American footba ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player for the Namibian national team.

Gallery

File:ELCIN Church Ongwediva.jpg,

ELCIN The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia (ELCIN) is a Lutheran denomination based in Namibia. It has a total membership of over 853,522 in 2023, mainly in Northern Namibia. Formerly known as the Evangelical Lutheran Ovambo-Kavango Church (ELOC) ...

church File:Natis Ongwediva.jpg, Roads Authority office File:Police station Ongwediva.jpg, Police station File:Maroela Mall in Ongwediva1.jpg, Shopping Center Maroela Mall in Ongwediva, Namibia File:Ongwediva MediPark 1.jpg, Private hospital

Sources

References

{{Coord, 17, 47, S, 15, 46, E, display=title, region:NA_type:city_source:GNS-enwiki 1926 establishments in South West Africa Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Mission mission stations in Oukwanyama Populated places in the Oshana Populated places established in 1926 Towns in Namibia