Ongandjera (from "aagandji yiiyela", ''place of gold metal thread beads'') is a tribal area near
Okahao
Okahao is a town in the Omusati Region of northern Namibia and the district capital of the Okahao electoral constituency which is the largest constituency in Omusati region in terms of area. It is a former mission station of the Finnish Mission ...
in the
Omusati Region
Omusati (the Oshindonga word for Mopane, the dominant tree in the area) is one of the fourteen regions of Namibia, its capital is Outapi. The towns of Okahao, Oshikuku and Ruacana as well as the self-governed village Tsandi are situated in ...
in northern
Namibia
Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...
.
Ongandjera is the birthplace of
Sam Nujoma
Samuel Shafiishuna Daniel Nujoma ( ; 12May 19298February 2025) was a Namibian revolutionary, anti-apartheid activist and politician who served three terms as the first president of Namibia, from 1990 to 2005. Nujoma was a founding member and t ...
, the country's first
president
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
* President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
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*'' Præsident ...
,
and of
Pendukeni Iivula-Ithana
Pendukeni "Penny" Iivula-Ithana (born 11 October 1952) is a Namibian politician who served as the secretary general of SWAPO, Namibia's ruling party, from 2007 to 2012. She was a member of the Constituent Assembly of Namibia in 1989 and has been ...
who was the secretary-general of
SWAPO
The South West Africa People's Organisation (SWAPO ; , SWAVO; , SWAVO), officially known as the SWAPO Party of Namibia, is a political party and former independence movement in Namibia (formerly South West Africa). Founded in 1960, it has been ...
from 2007 to 2012.
Kingdom of Ongandjera
Historically part of
Ovamboland
Ovamboland, also referred to as Owamboland, was a Bantustan and later a non-geographic ethnic-based second-tier authority, the Representative Authority of the Ovambos, in South West Africa (present-day Namibia).
The apartheid government stat ...
, Ongandjera is the seat of a
traditional kingship, the Ongandjera Traditional Authority. In 1917,
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
stripped the rulers of seven kingships, including Ongandjera, of their authority to rule their territory. Nevertheless, the position of King of the Ongandjera was continued. Following Namibia's independence, the king of Ongandjera declared the royal family restored.
List of rulers:
Before 1948:
* King Niilwa
* King Nangombe ya Mangundu
* King Amatundu ga Nima
* King Niita yIitula
* King Nandigolo uIitula
* King Nuunyango uIitula
* King Nkandi kAmwaama
* King Nangombe
* King Namatsi
* King Amunyela gwIileka
* King Asino
* King Amwaama
* King Tshaanika tsha Tshiimi
* King Namatsi
* King Nalukale
* King Namutenya
* King Amunyela gwa Tshaningwa (1858–1862)
* King Ekandjo lya Kadhila (1862)
* Queen Nakashwa (1862)
* King Tsheya tsUutshona (1862–1878)
* King Iiyambo yIileka (1878–1887)
* King Tshaanika Tsha Natshilongo (1887–1930)
* King Sheya shaAmukwa (1930–1936)
* King Tshaanika shIipinge (1936–1948)
1948 to present:
* King Uushona wa Shiimi (1948–1971)
* King Japhet Malenga Munkundi (1971–2012)
* King Johannes Mupiya (since 2012)
References
Populated places in the Omusati Region
Ovambo
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