Okahandja

History

In the Herero language, Okahandja means the place where two rivers converge, with the two rivers being the Okakango and the Okamita.

A German pastor, Heinrich Schmelen, became the first European to visit the town in 1827.{{cite web |author-link=Klaus Dierks |access-date=27 March 2011}} In 1844, two missionaries were permanently assigned to the town, Heinrich Kleinschmidt and Hugo Hahn. A church dates from this period. A military post was established at the initiative of Theodor Leutwein in 1894, and it is this date that is officially recognized as the town's founding.

A number of important historic Namibian people are buried in Okahandja, among them Maharero, Jan Jonker Afrikaner, Hosea Kutako and Clemens Kapuuo.

Economy

The population of Okahandja is growing rapidly. It stood at just over 14,000 as measured by the 2001 Population and Housing Census, and is estimated to have surpassed 24,000 in 2012.{{cite book

Von Bach Dam is situated outside of Okahandja. It provides the majority of Windhoek's water. An open-air curio market attracts tourists, and the town serves as the administrative centre for the Herero people.

Transport

Okahandja Railway Station, situated on the Windhoek—Swakopmund line, was built in 1902 during Imperial Germany's colonial rule of German South West Africa. Today it belongs to the Trans-Namib railway network.{{cite web |author-link=Klaus Dierks |access-date=6 November 2012}}

Education

In the 1870s Rhenish missionaries established the first school. The Augustineum School was reopened at Okahandja on 9 November 1905; it was later moved to Windhoek. Okahandja has six primary schools and two high schools. Namwater Vocational, situated outside the main town, is the only institute of higher education in Okahandja.

The National Institute for Educational Development (NIED) is today situated in Okahandja. NIED was created after independence as the institute from where a new national system of education was created, replacing the previous racist system of apartheid.

Previously the German school Regierungsschule Okahandja was in the city.

List of schools in Okahandja

1. Okahandja Secondary School

Politics

Okahandja is governed by a municipal council that has seven seats.

In the 2010 local authority election in Okahandja, SWAPO won with approximately 62% of the vote. Of the five other parties seeking votes in the election, Rally for Democracy and Progress (RDP) received approximately 13% of the vote, followed by the United Democratic Front (UDF, 8%), the United People's Movement (UPM, 7%), National Unity Democratic Organization (NUDO, 6%) and Democratic Turnhalle Alliance (DTA, 2%). The 2015 local authority election was again won by SWAPO which gained five seats and 2,572 votes. One seat each went to the DTA and the UDF with 236 and 213 votes, respectively.

SWAPO also won the 2020 local authority election but lost its absolute majority in the municipal council. It obtained 1,865 votes and gained three seats. One seat each went to the Independent Patriots for Change (IPC, an opposition party formed in August 2020, 654 votes), the local Okahandja Rate Payers' Association (ORPA, 574 votes), the Landless People's Movement (LPM, an opposition party formed in 2016, 377 votes), and the UDF (290 votes).

Sport

Okahandja offers the following sports codes; Soccer, Netball, Basketball, Tennis, Horse Raising, Dancing, Running, Gym, Spin & Drifting, Radio Helicopters...

Okahandja United FC competes in the Namibia Premier Football League as of the 2023. The oldest soccer club in town is known as Spoilers Sports Club that was founded in 1963 and managed over the years by "Ou Boss" Reinhardt Maletzky. In the 1970s, Okahandja Soccer Club had a competitive football team that won several competitions.{{cite news

In addition, local club Liverpool Okahandja were NFA-Cup winners in 1992 and Namibia Premier League champions in 2002. Other local teams were Magic Tigers, Battle Boys, Teenagers, Golden Arrows.

References

References

1. "Table 4.2.2 Urban population by Census years (2001 and 2011)". Namibia Statistics Agency.
2. "2023 Population & Housing Census Preliminary Report".
3. "Otjozondjupa Regional Council".
4. [http://www.okahandja.net/history/default.html Okahandja History] Okahandja.net, last accessed on 4 October 2017
5. "[http://dipbt.bundestag.de/doc/btd/04/036/0403672.pdf Deutscher Bundestag 4. Wahlperiode Drucksache IV/3672]" ({{webarchive. link. (2016-03-12 ). [[Bundestag]] (West Germany). 23 June 1965. Retrieved on 12 March 2016. p. 32/51.)
6. Namibian, The. (2015-07-14). "The Debate Corner … Goodbye, Okahandja Secondary School".
7. (2015). "Know Your Local Authority". Institute for Public Policy Research.
8. [http://www.ecn.na/results/2010/Press_Release_Local_Authority_-_Otjozondjupa-Okahandja.pdf Local Authority Election Results for Okahandja] {{webarchive. link. (2011-07-17)
9. (28 November 2015). "Local elections results". [[Electoral Commission of Namibia]].
10. (29 November 2020). "2020 Local Authority Elections Results and Allocation of Seats". [[Electoral Commission of Namibia]].
11. (14 November 2022). "We want to make it difficult for whoever visits Okahandja: Gariseb". NAMPA PR.