Ongwediva
Encyclopedia
Ongwediva is a town in the Oshana Region in the north of Namibia
Namibia
Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia , is a country in southern Africa whose western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and east. It gained independence from South Africa on 21 March...

. It is the district capital of the Ongwediva electoral constituency
Ongwediva Constituency
Ongwediva Constituency is an electoral constituency in the Oshana Region of Namibia. It has 27,396 inhabitants, its district capital is the town of Ongwediva.-Politics:...

. 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
Oshiwambo language
Ovambo, also known as Wambo or Ambo, or native Oshiwambo , is a dialect cluster in Angola and northern Namibia, of which the written standards are Kwanyama and Ndonga....

.

History

The settlement of Ongwediva was established in the 1960s while Namibia was under South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

n occupation. Its purpose was to serve as a residential area for people employed by businesses and government in Oshakati
Oshakati
Oshakati is a town of 30,000 inhabitants in the Oshana Region of Namibia. It is the regional capital and was officially founded in July 1966. The city was used as a base of operations by the South African Defence Force during the South African Border War and Namibian War of Independence...

 and Ondangwa. All main educational institutions in the north of Namibia (at that time called the Ovamboland
Ovamboland
Ovamboland was the name given by English-speaking visitors to the land occupied by the Ovambo people in what is now northern Namibia and southern Angola...

) were situated here.

Economy and Development

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. A shopping mall is under construction.

Ongwediva is an urban area that experiences rapid growth. It had less than 11,000 inhabitants in 2001.

Ongwediva is the second largest entertainment town in Namibia
Namibia
Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia , is a country in southern Africa whose western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and east. It gained independence from South Africa on 21 March...

 just behind the capital Windhoek
Windhoek
Windhoek is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Namibia. It is located in central Namibia in the Khomas Highland plateau area, at around above sea level. The 2001 census determined Windhoek's population was 233,529...

. Ongwediva is a fast growing town in terms of development and status as a second most livable town in Namibia
Namibia
Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia , is a country in southern Africa whose western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and east. It gained independence from South Africa on 21 March...

, 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.

Education

There are currently only two high schools in Ongwediva, Mweshipandeka High School
Mweshipandeka High School
Mweshipandeka High School is in Oshana region in the northern part of Namibia in Ongwediva....

 and Gabriel Taapopi SSS
Gabriel Taapopi SSS
Gabriel Taapopi Senior Secondary School is a government run, or public, high school in Ongwediva, Oshana Region, Namibia. The school opened in 1988, and was officially inaugurated in 1989 by then SWAPO Deputy Minister Buddy Wentworth...

. There are also five primary schools. The newly created Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology of the University of Namibia
University of Namibia
The University of Namibia is the national university of Namibia, located in the Pioneers Park district of Windhoek. Established by an act of National Assembly on 31 August 1992, UNAM includes Colleges of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Economics & Management Science Education, Humanities and...

 is based in Ongwediva and it started its first official academic year in 2009. There is also an Educational College for teachers.

Notable residents

  • Sunny Boy, a hip hop and kwaito musician
  • Fresh Family, a group of kwaito musicians and dancers
  • Patricia Kashuupulwa, a politician and current Mayor of the town
  • Erastus Uutoni
    Erastus Uutoni
    Erastus A. Uutoni is a Namibian politician. A member of SWAPO, Uutoni was first elected as the Mayor of Ongwediva in 2003. In 2009, Uutoni was selected for the SWAPO list for the National Assembly of Namibia for the 2009 general election.-References:...

    , a politician and former Mayor of the town
  • Benjamin Hauwanga
    Benjamin Hauwanga
    Benjamin Hauwanga is a Namibian businessman. He was born on 24 September 1951 at Tsumeb in the Oshikoto Region. His parents separated while he was still a young boy, his mother single-handily raised him, although his father still visited the family regularly...

    , a businessman, owner of Bennies Entertainment Park and Lodge and the BH Group of Companies
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