Okalongo
| Okalongo | |
|---|---|
  Okalongo | |
| Coordinates: NA 17°26′S 15°20′E / 17.433°S 15.333°ECoordinates: NA 17°26′S 15°20′E / 17.433°S 15.333°E | |
| Country |
 Namibia |
| Region | Omusati |
| Time zone | SAST (UTC+1) |
Okalongo is a small tribe and village, which is situated in the north of Ovamboland, Namibia. It is one of the places that suffered a lot during the colonial era. In 1983 the South African forces established the military base in Okalongo. It has been under the traditional authority of Oukwanyama.
Local authority
On 30 March 2004 Okalongo's got the Authority.
"The establishment of the Okalongo Traditional Authority is in line with prevailing laws because the Constitution grants every person the right to enjoy, practice, profess, maintain and promote any culture, language, tradition or religion." This was said by Minister of Regional, Local Government and Housing, Joel Kaapanda, when he officially inaugurated the Okalongo Traditional Authority at Onandjaba-Okalongo in the Omusati Region on Saturday. Mathias Walaula has been nominated as the Chief of the new authority in okalongo constituency.
He told the gathering that the Okalongo Traditional Authority would consist of himself as the Chief and four Senior Traditional Councillors, as well as one woman, six Junior Traditional Councillors and 41 village headmen.
Kaapanda "saluted and paid humble respect" to the society of Okalongo who had worked tirelessly towards the realization of their own traditional authority.He said traditional structures were as old as the history of Africa.
While they had not changed much, they still played a significant role in supporting and uplifting rural people.
At the same time, Kaapanda called on traditional leaders to familiarise themselves with Acts such as The Combating of Rape Act, the Combating of Domestic Violence Act and the Maintenance Act.
The Minister also referred to the area's fertile land. He said Okalongo was renowned as a great producer of mahangu and had been the grain basket for most of northern Namibia. He urged residents to follow in their forefathers' footsteps and to grow enough food for their people. He said that other natural resources like marula nuts, makalani nuts, spinach, aloe plants and many others should be utilised.
The Okalongo District, has about 70,000 mostly Oshimbadja-speaking inhabitants, and due to Okalongo being close to Angola, most of the society has relatives in Angola.