Oshana

Oshana covers land of two Ovambo kingdoms, Uukwambi and Ondonga, on the floodplains that gave it its name. Finnish missionaries, a German veterinary line, the South African administration and then the army all left their mark, and Oshakati itself was founded in 1966 by South Africa as a town and military base. That history explains the Lutheran churches, the Finnish first names and the fast growth of the three towns, which now form the biggest cluster of people in Namibia after Windhoek.

1. 1890

   The Finnish missionaries had a string of setbacks in Uukwambi, Ongandjera and Oukwanyama, so they concentrated on western Ondonga, and in 1890 August Pettinen founded the mission station that became Ondangwa. source

2. 1884 to early 1900s

   The colonial agreements of 1884 split the Ovambo lands between Germany and Portugal without asking their people. For at least two decades neither power tried to occupy or govern them, and years of gun smuggling had left the Ovambo kingdoms well armed. source

3. 1915

   When British and South African forces took the territory from Germany in the First World War, they chose Ondangwa as the seat of their administration in Ovamboland and raised the Union Jack there on Christmas Day 1915. The government bought the station from the Finnish mission in 1921. source

4. 1932

   Iipumbu ya Tshilongo, king of Uukwambi since 1907, refused to pay taxes or send contract labourers. In 1932 troops under Resident Commissioner Hahn attacked Uukwambi, had his homestead bombed by military aircraft and later sent him into exile in Kavango. He is now one of Namibia's nine national heroes. source

5. July 1966

   South Africa founded Oshakati, and during the liberation war fought by SWAPO (the South West Africa People's Organisation) the South African Defence Force used the town as a base of operations. source

6. 1968

   The north became Ovamboland, a bantustan (an apartheid ethnic homeland). In practice it was a labour reserve: Ovambo men could leave only on 16-month labour contracts and women not at all. source

7. 1970s and 1980s

   Until independence Oshakati was split into a white east and a Black west, kept apart by distance, fences and barbed wire, and run like a fortress. A military base was built in 1974, with a pipeline and canal bringing water from the Calueque dam on the Kunene to supply it. source

8. 19 February 1988

   A bomb wrecked what was then the Barclays Bank branch in Oshakati (today First National Bank), killing civilians going about their day. In February 2026 the vice president unveiled a tombstone for the victims, describing the attack as meant to spread fear and undermine SWAPO and its army. source

Language

Three Oshiwambo dialects dominate home life in the 2023 census: Oshikwanyama in 34.9 percent of households, Oshindonga in 30.1 percent and Otshikwambi in 19.1 percent. English is the main home language in 3.4 percent of households and Afrikaans in 1 percent. source

Peoples

Almost everyone here is Ovambo, but from several of the old kingdoms: Aakwanyama 34.8 percent, Aandonga 29.6 percent and Aakwambi 21.1 percent in the 2023 census, with smaller numbers of Aangandjera, Aambalantu and Aambadja. source

Kwambi tradition and the Totem Expo

Oshakati lies inside the Kwambi traditional authority, and the Kwambi call it Otshakati tsha Nangombe. Since 2012 the town council has held the Oshakati Totem Expo, four days in June or July that mix local traditions with a business show. source

Churches and Finnish names

Lutheranism is the main faith in the old Ovamboland because of the Finnish missionaries, and their work is why so many people carry Finnish first names such as Toivo, Martta, Helmi and Martti. source

Trade fair

Ongwediva has held its Annual Trade Fair every year since 2000, after a first Northern Namibia Trade Fair in 1995. Its nightlife is said to be second only to Windhoek's. source