Okahandja

{{Infobox settlement |name = Okahandja |other_name = |native_name = {{langx|naq|Kaiǁkhaes}} |nickname = |settlement_type = City |motto = Semper Prorsum |image_shield = |shield_size = 100px |image_skyline = |imagesize = |image_caption = |image_map = |pushpin_map = Namibia |pushpin_label_position =bottom |pushpin_mapsize =300 |pushpin_map_caption =Location in Namibia  |subdivision_type = Country |subdivision_name = {{flag|Namibia}} |subdivision_type1 = Region |subdivision_name1 = Otjozondjupa Region |subdivision_type2 = Constituency |subdivision_name2 = Okahandja constituency |leader_title = |leader_name = |established_title = Town  |established_date = 1894  |area_magnitude = |unit_pref = |area_footnotes = |area_total_km2 = 229  |population_as_of = 2023 census |population_footnotes = <ref name=nsa2023/> |population_note = |population_total = 45,182 |population_density_km2 = auto  |timezone = SAST |utc_offset = +2 |coordinates = {{coord|21|59|S|16|55|E|region:NA|display=inline}} |elevation_m = |elevation_ft = |blank_name_sec1 = Climate |blank_info_sec1 = BSh  |postal_code_type = |postal_code = |area_code = |website = |footnotes = }}

'''Okahandja''' is a city<ref name="ALANlist">{{cite web |url=http://www.alan.org.na/?q=localauthorities/list |title=Local Authorities |publisher=Association of Local Authorities in Namibia (ALAN) |access-date=1 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130610203011/http://www.alan.org.na/?q=localauthorities%2Flist |archive-date=10 June 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref> of 45,182 inhabitants in Otjozondjupa Region, central Namibia, and the district capital of the Okahandja electoral constituency. It is known as the ''Garden Town of Namibia''. It is located 70 km north of Windhoek on the B1 road. It was founded around 1800, by two local groups, the Herero and the Nama.<ref name=OT>{{cite web |url=http://www.namibian.org/travel/namibia/okahandja.html |publisher=The Cardboard Box |title=Okahandja, a town in Namibia |access-date=25 October 2010}}</ref>

==History== In the Herero language, Okahandja means ''the place where two rivers converge'', with the two rivers being the Okakango and the Okamita.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.otjozondjuparc.gov.na/okahandja |title=Otjozondjupa Regional Council |access-date=2020-02-24 |archive-date=2021-11-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211101110205/https://otjozondjuparc.gov.na/okahandja |url-status=dead }}</ref>

A German pastor, Heinrich Schmelen, became the first European to visit the town in 1827.<ref name="Dierks">{{cite web |url=http://www.klausdierks.com/Biographies/Biographies_3.htm |last=Dierks |first=Klaus |author-link=Klaus Dierks |title=Biographies of Namibian Personalities, R-Z |access-date=27 March 2011}}</ref> 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.<ref name=OH>[http://www.okahandja.net/history/default.html Okahandja History] Okahandja.net, last accessed on 4 October 2017</ref>

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

==Economy and infrastructure== The population of Okahandja is growing rapidly. It stood at just over 14,000 as measured by the 2001 Population and Housing Census, and stood at over 45,000 in 2023.<ref name=nsa2011/><ref name=nsa2023/>

{{Historical populations|2001|14,039|2011|22,639|2023|45,182|percentages=pagr|align=none|footnote=Sources:<ref name=nsa2011>{{cite web | title=4.2.2 Urban population by Census years (2001 and 2011) | url=http://cms.my.na/assets/documents/p19dmn58guram30ttun89rdrp1.pdf | work=Namibia 2011 - Population and Housing Census Main Report | publisher=Namibia Statistics Agency | access-date=10 February 2026 | page=39}}</ref><ref name=nsa2023>{{cite web | title=4.5 Population by town and census years (2011 and 2023) | url=https://nsa.org.na/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/2023-Population-and-Housing-Census-Main-Report-28-Oct-2024.pdf | work=Namibia 2023 - Population and Housing Census. Main Report | publisher=Namibia Statistics Agency | access-date=10 February 2026 | pages=33–34}}</ref>}}

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=== [[File:Bahnhof Okahandja 1903.jpg|thumb|Okahandja Railway Station, 1902]] [[File:Maharero monument Okahandja.jpg|thumb|Monument to Herero Chiefs: Gravestone of Tjamuaha, Maharero, and Samuel Maharero]] 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.<ref name="KDRail">{{cite web |url=http://www.klausdierks.com/Namibia_Rail/2.htm |title=The Development of the Namibian Railway Network. The Rail History Until the 1990s |last=Dierks |first=Klaus |author-link=Klaus Dierks |publisher=www.klausdierks.com |access-date=6 November 2012}}</ref>

== 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. {{As of|2010|alt=Today}} 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.<ref>"[http://dipbt.bundestag.de/doc/btd/04/036/0403672.pdf Deutscher Bundestag 4. Wahlperiode Drucksache IV/3672]" ({{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160312191648/http://dipbt.bundestag.de/doc/btd/04/036/0403672.pdf |date=2016-03-12 }}). Bundestag (West Germany). 23 June 1965. Retrieved on 12 March 2016. p. 32/51.</ref>

=== List of schools in Okahandja ===

# Okahandja Secondary School<ref>{{Cite web |last=Namibian |first=The |date=2015-07-14 |title=The Debate Corner … Goodbye, Okahandja Secondary School |url=https://www.namibian.com.na/the-debate-corner-goodbye-okahandja-secondary-school/ |access-date=2024-06-15 |website=The Namibian |language=en-GB}}</ref>

==Politics== Okahandja is governed by a municipal council that has seven seats.<ref>{{Cite news | title=Know Your Local Authority | publisher=Institute for Public Policy Research | newspaper=Election Watch | year = 2015 | issue=3 | page=4}}</ref>

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%).<ref>[http://www.ecn.na/results/2010/Press_Release_Local_Authority_-_Otjozondjupa-Okahandja.pdf Local Authority Election Results for Okahandja] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717180627/http://www.ecn.na/results/2010/Press_Release_Local_Authority_-_Otjozondjupa-Okahandja.pdf |date=2011-07-17 }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web | title=Local elections results | publisher=Electoral Commission of Namibia | page=6 | url=http://www.ecn.na/documents/27857/218731/LA+results+%28press+release%29+2015.pdf/870a030b-8547-487f-ad18-b22713b16d4c?version=1.0 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151210194328/http://www.ecn.na/documents/27857/218731/LA+results+%28press+release%29+2015.pdf/870a030b-8547-487f-ad18-b22713b16d4c?version=1.0 | url-status=dead | archive-date=10 December 2015 | date=28 November 2015 }}</ref>

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).<ref>{{Cite web | title=2020 Local Authority Elections Results and Allocation of Seats | page=16 | date=29 November 2020 | publisher=Electoral Commission of Namibia | url=https://www.ecn.na/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Media-Release-on-LA-Results_2020.pdf | access-date=4 March 2021 | archive-date=24 January 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210124162938/https://www.ecn.na/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Media-Release-on-LA-Results_2020.pdf | url-status=dead }}</ref>

==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.<ref name="Make it difficult">{{cite web |last1=Wells |first1=Chelva |title=We want to make it difficult for whoever visits Okahandja: Gariseb |date=14 November 2022 |url=http://www.nampapr.com.na/?p=11447 |publisher=NAMPA PR |access-date=11 July 2023 |archive-date=9 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230709162353/http://www.nampapr.com.na/?p=11447 |url-status=dead }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite news |title = Alcino 'Shorty' da Costa - The Portuguese dynamo |last = Kambaekwa |first = Carlos |newspaper = New Era |date = 20 August 2010 |url = http://www.newera.com/article.php?artcileid=12581 }}{{dead link|date=January 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

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.

== See also == * Vyf Rand

== References == {{Reflist|30em}}

Category:Okahandja Category:Populated places in the Otjozondjupa Region Category:Populated places established in 1894 Category:1894 establishments in German South West Africa Category:Rhenish mission stations in Hereroland Category:Cities in Namibia