Otjinene

Otjinene is a village in the Omaheke Region of Namibia.[2] It is the district capital of the Otjinene Constituency.[3] Otjinene is connected via a 157 kilometres (98 mi) tarred road to the regional capital Gobabis,[4] and via a 227 kilometres (141 mi) road which was tarred in 2017, to Grootfontein.[5]

Otjinene
Village
Public place in the centre of the village
Public place in the centre of the village
Otjinene is located in Namibia
Otjinene
Otjinene
Otjinene, Namibia
Coordinates: 21°08′00″S 18°46′00″E
Country Namibia
RegionOmaheke Region
ConstituencyOtjinene Constituency
Population
 (2011)[1]
 • Total2,102
Time zoneUTC+2 (SAST)
ClimateBSh

Otjinene is surrounded by a communal area, where there are many villages. There are more or less 20 households in each village. The majority of people around Otjinene are communal farmers, farming with cattle, goats and sheep. There is one health clinic which is operated by the Ministry of Health and Social Services, and a number of retail stores.[6]

c. 18 kilometres (11 mi) to the Northeast is the Ozombuzovindimba heritage site. This is the place where in 1904 Lothar von Trotha issued the extermination order against the OvaHerero and Nama people, starting the Herero and Namaqua Genocide which would kill about 80% of all OvaHerero. OvaHerero and OvaMbanderu people gather annually here to commemorate lives and deaths of their ancestors.[6]

Politics

Otjinene was proclaimed a village by the government in 2011.[6] Since then it is governed by a village council that has five seats.[7]

Otjinene is one of the few local authorities where Namibia's ruling SWAPO party is in the opposition. In the 2015 local authority election it only gained one seat (488 votes). The election was won by the National Unity Democratic Organisation (NUDO) which gained three seats (787 votes). The remaining seat went to the Democratic Turnhalle Alliance (DTA, 204 votes).[8] NUDO also won the 2020 local authority election. It obtained 823 votes and gained three village council seats. One seat each went to the Popular Democratic Movement (PDM), formerly DTA, with 351 votes and to SWAPO (319 votes).[9]

References
  1. "Table 4.2.2 Urban population by Census years (2001 and 2011)" (PDF). Namibia 2011 - Population and Housing Census Main Report. Namibia Statistics Agency. p. 39. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 October 2013. Retrieved 10 September 2013.
  2. Smit, Nico (20 September 2011). "More settlements coming". The Namibian. Archived from the original on 3 June 2012.
  3. Hoveka, Utaara (19 July 2004). "Otjinene Heads for Town Status". New Era. allafrica.com.
  4. Nunuhe, Margareth (3 September 2012). "President commissions Otjinene road". New Era.
  5. "Okamatapati to Grootfontein road to be upgraded at N$523 million". New Era. 15 October 2014.
  6. Tjitemisa, Kuzeeko (29 September 2016). "Top SA retailers to open doors in Otjinene". New Era.
  7. "Know Your Local Authority". Election Watch. No. 3. Institute for Public Policy Research. 2015. p. 4.
  8. "Local elections results". Electoral Commission of Namibia. 28 November 2015. p. 5. Archived from the original on 10 December 2015.
  9. "2020 Local Authority Elections Results and Allocation of Seats" (PDF). Electoral Commission of Namibia. 29 November 2020. p. 12. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
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