Ongwediva | |
|---|---|
Town | |
| Nickname: The Valley of the Leopard | |
| Motto: Freedom & Hard work | |
  Ongwediva Location in Namibia | |
| Coordinates: 17°47′S 15°46′E / 17.783°S 15.767°E | |
| Country |  Namibia |
| Region | Oshana Region |
| constituency | Ongwediva constituency |
| Proclaimed | 1992 |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Patricia Kashuupulwa |
| Population (2010)[2] | |
| • Total | 27,000 |
| Time zone | UTC+1 (South African Standard Time) |
| Website | http://www.otc.com.na/ |
Ongwediva is a town in the Oshana Region in the north of Namibia. It is the district capital of the Ongwediva electoral constituency. As of 2010[update] it had 27,000 inhabitants and covered 4,102 hectares of land. Ongwediva has seven churches, two private schools and 13 government-run schools. Most of the inhabitants speak Oshiwambo.[2]
History[edit]
The settlement of Ongwediva was established in the 1960s while Namibia was under South African occupation. Its purpose was to serve as a residential area for people employed by businesses and government in Oshakati and Ondangwa, as it can be found just between Oshakati and Ondangwa, few metres from Oshakati and around 22 kilometres from Ondangwa. All main educational institutions in the north of Namibia (at that time called the Ovamboland) were situated here.[3]
Economy and Development[edit]
Ongwediva hosts an annual trade fair, the Ongwediva Annual Trade Fair (OATF) since the year 2000, after one initial trade fair, the Northern Namibia Trade Fair, was held in 1995.[3] Two shopping malls are still under construction, one is near David Shikomba shopping mall while the other one is just on the west side of the Medi Park and they are all big enough to accommondate enough shops.[4]
Ongwediva is an urban area that experiences rapid growth. It had less than 11,000 inhabitants in 2001.[5]
Ongwediva is the second largest entertainment town in Namibia just behind the capital Windhoek. Ongwediva is a fast growing town in terms of development and status as a second most livable town in Namibia, it encompasses a multi-million dollar (Namibian dollars) Bennies Entertainment Park and Lodge which has a lot of fun activities for the kids and grown-ups.
Ongwediva is also a town with it's own hospital: the Ongwediva Medi-Clinic. It has state of the art technologies to cater for the ill and the best staff to do the catering.[6]
Education[edit]
There are currently only four high schools in Ongwediva, Mweshipandeka High School, Ekwafo SSS, Klein Kuppe Private School and Gabriel Taapopi SSS. There are also five primary schools.Two of the schools in Ongwediva, which are Mweshipandeka High School and Gabriel Taapopi SSS, are the best schools in Oshana Region and they can also be found in the top 20 best schools in Namibia. The newly created Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology of the University of Namibia is based in Ongwediva and it started its first official academic year in 2009. There is also an Educational College for teachers, and it was officially changed to a university (part of University of Namibia) in 2010 and its now known as Hifikepunye Pohamba Campus.
Notable residents[edit]
- Sunny Boy, a hip hop and kwaito musician
- Fresh Family, a group of kwaito musicians and dancers
- Alaska Boys, a group of young dancers
- Omupini, a group of Kwaito musicians and dancers
- Patricia Kashuupulwa, a politician and current Mayor of the town
- Erastus Uutoni, a politician and former Mayor of the town
- Benjamin Hauwanga, a businessman, owner of Bennies Entertainment Park and Lodge and the BH Group of Companies
References[edit]
- ^ "Ongwediva Mayor welcomes visitors". Namibian Sun. 1 September 2010. Retrieved 3 February 2011.
- ^ a b "Location". Ongwediva Town Coucil. Retrieved 30 December 2010.
- ^ a b "Historical background". Ongwediva Town Coucil. Retrieved 30 December 2010. Cite error: The named reference "history" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
- ^ Ongwediva gets Shopping Mall The Namibian, 24 November 2008
- ^ Republic of Namibia 2001 Population and Housing Census (Basic Analysis with Highlights ed.). Windhoek: Central Bureau of Statistics, National Planning Commission. July 2003. p. 21. ISBN 0869766147.
- ^ http://www.informante.web.na/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4197&Itemid=108