Nkurenkuru

city

Nkurenkuru

Details

motto

Unity, Development, Progress
(unit, development, progress)

Basic data

Population
Area
Population Density

618 (2011 census)
1.0 km²
582.5 inhabitants / km²

State
Region
Constituency

Namibia
Kavango-West
Nkurenkuru

Establishment date

1820

License plate
phone code

66

Website

nkurenkurutc.com.na

Political data

Mayor : Erastus Kandjimi ( SWAPO )

Chief Executive Officer : {{{CEO}}}

Last election: 2015

Next election: 2020

City administration address:
Petrus Sindimba

Geographical data

Geographic coordinates : 17 ° 37′S, 18 ° 36′E

Height : 1093 m

Image wanted

Nkurenkuru is a town with 618 inhabitants on the southwest bank of the Okavango , in the Kavango-West region , Namibia . It is the smallest city in the country and has been the capital of the new Kavango-West region since August 9, 2013.

Nkurenkuru is the residential city of the Uukwangali kings who have lived here since the late 18th century and was also the capital and administrative seat of the entire area until 1936. Nkurenkuru had to give up the latter functions due to the relocation of the administration to the more centrally located city of Rundu .

Since 2007 Nkurenkuru has had the status of a city with local administration.

The city of Cuangar in Angola , to which there is a border crossing and ferry connection, is located on the northeast bank of the river opposite Nkurenkuru .

history

Before 1909

The story of Nkurenkuru, (outdated also Kuring Kuru ), RuKwangali : "the old place" , is closely linked to the history of the Kwangali tribe , the westernmost of the five kingdoms of the Kavango . The Kavango are a matrilineal people whose social structure has also integrated tribes of other peoples into itself for centuries. At the time of European imperialism , the Uukwangali kings (as primi inter pares of these five related royal families) were the first contact between Europeans and Kavango, and Nkurenkuru was an interface for the region at the beginning of modern times. In this respect, the city occupies a historically significant place in today's Namibia, corresponding to its importance as "the old city" .

The oldest Kwangali traditions date back to the middle of the 18th century when Uukwangali queen ( hompa ) Mate I and her people left the old ancestral area at Mashi am Kwando and settled around 500 km further west in Makuzu ( 17 ° 29 ′ S , 18 ° 28 ′ E ), an area 20 km northwest of Nkurenkuru. At the same time, her sister, Mbunza Queen Kapango, moved to the southern Okavangoufer near Mbunza ( 17 ° 52 ′ S , 19 ° 22 ′ E ). These migrations create the two western of the five kingdoms of the Kavango today. -17.4833333 18.4666667-17.86667 19.36667

Mate I's successor is hompa Nankali (1750 to 1775). During their reign there were tensions between neighboring groups and the Kwangali moved from Makuzu first to Sihangu near Mukukuta and then on to Karai (today's Cuangar ). During the reign of Hompa Siremo in 1820, Nkurenkuru was founded, which in 1880 became the royal residence under Queen Mpande . On December 30, 1886, Portugal and Germany sign a bilateral agreement that defines the border of the Portuguese colony Angola and DSWA along the middle of the Okavango. The Kavango tribes, who settled on both sides of the Okavango at this time, were only informed of this agreement and the new territorial structure. On the north side, the Portuguese begin building a number of forts; among others in Cuangar (Fort Kuangar), in the immediate vicinity of the residence of the Uukwangali kings. On the south side , several missionary and military expeditions along the river are undertaken from Namutoni , Grootfontein and the Caprivi Strip .

Recent history

On August 17, 1909, a protection treaty was concluded for the southern side of the river between the district administrator of Grootfontein , Berengar von Zastrow (born June 7, 1876) and King Himarua (1886 to 1910), with the mutual recognition of the sovereignty of Windhuks , but basic and land owned by the Uukwangali kings. Corresponding contracts with the other four Hompas followed, as well as the establishment of the first schools. As a result of these forts on the north side of the river and a manipulative policy on the Portuguese side towards the blacks, almost all Kavango relocated from the north side of the river to the south side. This also resulted in a competitive situation between the colonial powers, whereupon the Nkurenkuru police station was built on June 17, 1910 by the German side. Also in 1910, shortly after the police station opened, Uukwangali King Himarua dies and his successor is King Kandjimi Hawanga (until 1924), who also has family ties to the house of the Uukwambi kings . In the years that followed, this police station took on mainly representative tasks, especially since the remote region was considered economically unprofitable; but not least because a colonial policy practiced more rationally since the Reichstag elections in 1907 should have less influence on the population. A few brick buildings for the station and staff quarters were built by 1914. As a result of the outbreak of the First World War and in retaliation of a German travel delegation murdered near Naulila , the station was used on October 31, 1914 to storm and take Fort Cuangar.

In 1917 the German police station was dissolved and only replaced by a provisional British military administration and, from April 1921, by a permanent mandate administration for South West Africa . In the years 1917 to 1919, as a result of poor harvests on the Okavango, more and more workers were poached to Grootfontein. The creation of the South West African administration resulted in an expanded political presence and in 1921 Nkurenkuru is declared the capital of the Kavango district created by the Mandate Administration. In 1936, however, this administration was relocated to the newly founded Rundu , and Nkurenkuru became increasingly insignificant in the following 50 years. During the civil war in Angola , a military base for the South African armed forces is set up northwest of Nkurenkuru , and in 1977 the city is a reception site for around 700 Angolan UNITA refugees from Cuangar. As a border town, Nkurenkuru remained affected by the civil war in the neighboring country until 2002.

In 1988, with the help of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, the secondary school in Nkurenkuru was founded and since Namibia's independence in 1990, the town has received limited financial support from the regional capital Rundu and the Namibian government in Windhoek. However, Nkurenkuru benefits particularly from Namibia's policy of decentralization, which has been practiced since the beginning of the millennium , in which Nkurenkuru has been a city again since 2006 and has been declared the second urban center of the Kavango after Rundu.

Politics and administration

The urban area of Nkurenkuru is divided into the main town and the district of Kafuma. The city center consists of the main road along the river and a T-junction / western junction towards Oberschule and Mpungu . In addition to Nkurenkuru Beach, there are also small orchards and boatyards on the riverbank.

Immediately to the northwest are the settlements of Siurungu and Musu, other (informal) settlements are Kakuro (1200 inh.), Kuliuka (350 in.) And Siyena / Kahenge (1300 in.). There is an almost 18,000 hectare forest area south of the city.

Local government

The following official final result was determined in the 2015 local elections .

Political party	be right	Share of votes	Seats
SWAPO	1063	94.1%	7th
DTA	0035	03.1%	0
RP	0032	02.8%	0
All in all	1130	100%	7th

Economy and Transport

Nkurenkuru is still far underdeveloped compared to other cities in Namibia. Like many cities in the north, it suffered for a long time from poor development and political unrest in neighboring Angola. Up until then, Nkurenkuru's economy was dominated by small agricultural entrepreneurs with only a few general services. At that time there were only a few other shops besides a post office, two schools, a small hospital and a gas station.

Since Namibia's independence in 1990, Nkurenkuru has only slowly benefited from national infrastructure improvements. Only the political decentralization measures of the Namibian government, which are to counter an increasing rural exodus to the largest cities across the country, help the place to an economic upswing. With the declaration of the city in 2006, Nkurenkuru received funds to build up a city administration, additional funds for investments in technical infrastructure and public facilities, which also led to more jobs. The most important investments currently include the expansion of the 140 km long D3405 embankment and the B10 national road to Rundu into an asphalt road and an artificial irrigation system for better agricultural use of the surrounding area. Since then there have also been investments from the private sector, such as the opening of further banks and shops (including Bank Windhoek ) and the first guest houses and lodges along the river (including Sunshine River Guest House).

Through the Kanuni Arts and Crafts Center and the Nkurenkuru Open Market, the city received a central forum for the promotion of handicrafts (especially the Kavango wood carvers who work here) and a central street market for fishermen, farmers and small businesses in the region.

Nepara airfield, about 20 km south of the city, is a former South African air force base and can be approached by smaller aircraft from all over Namibia. There is also a direct border crossing over the river by ferry and about 35 km northwest of Nkurenkuru the road border crossing Katwitwi .