Ongwediva


Ongwediva is a town in the Oshana Region in the north of Namibia. It is the district capital of the Ongwediva electoral constituency. 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.

History

The settlement of Ongwediva was established in the 1960s while Namibia was under South African 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 and Ondangwa. All main educational institutions in the north of Namibia were situated here.

Economy and development

Ongwediva hosts an annual trade fair, the Ongwediva Annual Trade Fair 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.
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 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 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 party. In the 2015 local authority election SWAPO won by a landslide and gained all seven council seats. The Rally for Democracy and Progress also ran but gained only 166 votes.

Education

There are currently only two high schools in Ongwediva, Mweshipandeka High School and Gabriel Taapopi SSS. There are also five primary schools. The newly created Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology of the University of Namibia is based in Ongwediva, and started its first official academic year in 2009. There was also an educational college for teachers. The University of Namibia Ongwediva Campus has been named after President Hifikepunye Pohamba. The campus was formally known as Ongwediva College of Education, and also got to be known as the Unam Ongwediva Campus when all colleges of education merged with Unam in 2010.

Notable residents