Outapi wa Nakafingo na Temba, also OutapiorUutapi and Ombalantu, is a town in northern Namibia near the border with Angola, situated 90 km (56 mi) northwest of Oshakati. It is the capital of the Omusati region and the district capital of the Outapi electoral constituency. The language spoken there is Oshiwambo.
The town normally receives an annual average rainfall of 440 millimetres (17 in), although in the 2010/2011 rainy season 723 millimetres (28.5 in) were measured.[4]
In 2001, Outapi was the smallest town in Namibia, with a population of just over 2,600.[5] It is, however, developing rapidly. There is a large number of newly constructed government buildings and shops in the south of the town. The town features several schools, a community hall, a hospital and a police station.[6] There are two open markets, one at the Ombalantu baobab tree and one at Onhimbu. There is also a tourist lodge.
Within the former South African Army base is the famous OmukwaOmbalantu baobab tree, a baobab whose huge hollow trunk has been used in the past as a post office, a chapel, and a coffee shop, and now[update] houses a craft shop.[7]
The town hosts the annual Olufuko Festival, which was initiated in 2012. The festival is a combination of a business expo and cultural celebrations, of which the initiation ceremony that prepares teenage girls for womanhood is the heart of the festival. Namibia's first president and founding father, Sam Nujoma, is the patron of the Olufuko Festival.
Outapi is governed by a town council that has seven seats.[8] Omusati Region, to which Outapi belongs, is a stronghold of Namibia's ruling SWAPO party. For the 2015 local authority election no opposition party nominated a candidate, and SWAPO won all seven seats uncontested.[9]
^Republic of Namibia 2001 Population and Housing Census (Basic Analysis with Highlights ed.). Windhoek: Central Bureau of Statistics, National Planning Commission. July 2003. p. 21. ISBN0-86976-614-7.
^"Presidential and National Assembly Elections 2009". Supplement to several Namibian newspapers. Electoral Commission of Namibia. November 2009.
Namibia
