Oshikoto Region

Geography

Oshikoto Region is named after Lake Otjikoto near its former capital Tsumeb.

Oshikoto is one of only three Namibian regions without either a shoreline or a foreign border. It borders the following regions:

• Ohangwena - north
• Kavango West - east
• Otjozondjupa - southeast
• Kunene - southwest
• Oshana - west

Demographics

The region's population has grown significantly over recent years, partly as a result of resettling / redistribution within the Oshiwambo-speaking area. Apart from Tsumeb and Oniipa, people have settled in a corridor along the trunk road, sometimes forming quite dense concentrations.

Economy and infrastructure

The northern part of the region practices crop agriculture, whereas the main economic activities in the southern part are cattle rearing and mining. The two areas have important cultural and historical links in that the Ndonga people have extracted copper at Tsumeb since the earliest times in order to make rings and tools.

Pearl millet (Mahangu) is the principal crop in the north, while cattle are reared in the Mangetti and the Tsumeb district. Although the Tsumeb mine has only a limited life span, it provides a boost for the communal areas of the region together with the associated support industries and services.

Communication networks and infrastructure are well developed in the area: a paved trunk road runs across the region, linking it to both the south and the north of the country. The national microwave network terminates at Tsumeb, but telecommunications are now carried across the region and as far as Oshakati by means of a newly laid optical fiber cable.

According to the 2012 Namibia Labour Force Survey, unemployment in the Oshikoto Region is 26.4%. Oshikoto had 200 schools with a total of 60,439 pupils.

Politics

Constituencies

Oshikoto comprises eleven constituencies:

• Eengodi
• Guinas
• Nehale lyaMpingana (created 2013)
• Okankolo
• Olukonda
• Omuntele
• Omuthiyagwiipundi
• Onayena
• Oniipa
• Onyaanya (until 1999 Okatope Constituency)
• Tsumeb (until 1999 Oshikoto Constituency)

Regional elections

Electorally, Oshikoto is consistently dominated by the South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO). In the 2004 regional election for the National Assembly of Namibia, SWAPO won all constituencies, and mostly by a landslide. In Eengodi no opposition party even nominated a candidate.

The 2015 local and regional elections saw SWAPO obtain 98.8% of the votes cast (2010: 95.6%) The remaining two constituencies were also won by SWAPO with majorities well over 80%.

Although SWAPO's support dropped to 73.2% of the total votes in the 2020 regional election it again won in all constituencies. Most of the non-SWAPO votes went to the upstart Independent Patriots for Change (IPC), an opposition party formed in August 2020.

Governors

• Penda Ya Ndakolo (2004–2015 and 2020–2025)
• Henock Kankoshi (2015–2020)
• Sacky Kathindi (2025–)

Demographics

As of 2023, Oshikoto is home to 257,302 inhabitants. In the general population, women outnumber men, with 98 males per 100 females. The population is majority rural, with only 18.3% living in urban settlements. The population density is 6.7 people per km2. 6% of residents are not Namibian citizens. There are 60,643 private households, averaging 4.1 members. The population is growing at an annual rate of 2.9%, with a fertility rate of 4.4 children per woman. 14.7% is under 5, 24.8% 5-14, 31.9% 15-34, 20.3% 35-59, and 8.3% over 60.

Marriage status

27.8% of the adult population has been married, either with certificate (18.6%), traditionally (2.9%), in a consensual union (2.2%), divorced (0.9%), or widowed (2.9%). The population generally marries older, with only 0.8% of the current youth population married before age 18.

Education and employment

The literacy rate has decreased from 2011 to 85.2%. 22.2% percent of pre-primary youth attend Early Childhood Development (ECD) programs. The maximum level of educational attainment is mostly primary (46.2%), with only 20.8% pursuing secondary education and 8.5% pursuing tertiary education. 12.3% has no educational attainment. 33.3% of inhabitants earn a wage or salary as their primary source of income, 18.3% receive an old-age pension, 23.6% rely on farming, and 8.3% are involved in non-farming business.

References

References

1. (10 April 2020). "Goodbye". [[Namibian Sun]].
2. "Oshikoto 2011 Census Regional Profile".
3. "2023 Population & Housing Census Preliminary Report".
4. "Sub-national HDI - Area Database - Global Data Lab".
5. (18 January 2021). "Regional Council 2020 Election Results". [[Electoral Commission of Namibia]].
6. Heita, Desie. (13 November 2015). "Oshikoto scores big in development budget". [[New Era (Namibia).
7. Duddy, Jo Maré. (11 April 2013). "Unemployment rate still alarmingly high". [[The Namibian]].
8. (27 November 2013). "School counsellors overstretched". allafrica.com.
9. (9 August 2013). "Creation of new regions and division and re-division of certain regions into constituencies: Regional Councils Act, 1992". [[Government of Namibia]].
10. (22 November 1999). "Amendment of Proclamation No. 25 of 1 September 1992, as amended by Proclamation No. 16 of 31 August 1998". [[Government of Namibia]].
11. (3 January 2005). "Electoral Act, 1992: Notification of Result of General Election for Regional Councils". [[Government of Namibia]].
12. Kangootui, Nomhle. (23 October 2015). "Swapo gets ǃNamiǂNûs uncontested". [[The Namibian]].
13. (3 December 2015). "Regional Council Election Results 2015". [[Electoral Commission of Namibia]].
14. (8 October 2021). "Publication of results and particulars in respect of general elections for Regional Councils: Electoral Act, 2014". [[Government of Namibia]].
15. Nawatiseb, Engel. (27 January 2014). "Oshikoto governor creates awareness". [[New Era (Namibia).
16. (10 April 2015). "President announces governors". [[The Namibian]].
17. Nandi-Ndaitwah, Netumbo. (28 March 2025). "Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah appointments of regional governors in the 8th administration". [[The Namibian]].
18. (2023). "2023 Population and Housing Census Main Report". Namibia Statistics Agency.