Opuwo
is the capital of the Kunene Region in north-western Namibia. The town is
situated about 720 km north-northwest from the capital Windhoek, and has a
population of 5,100. Pieter de Villiers of the Congress of Democrats is the
town's mayor.
The first office to be established in the area was the colonial
administrator in Kaoko in 1997, which was located at the Swartbooi’s Drift
on the banks of the Kunene River before the location's name was changed to
Opuwo. This police station was run by Sergeant Herbert, and his aim was to
receive the Angola Boers who had trekked to Angola out of refusal to accept
the British government in South Africa. Sergeant Basson took over the office
at Swartbooi‘s Drift, and excavated Opuwo's first borehole. Basson had the
nickname “Katjiriamakaja” (a person who eats tobacco).
The name Opuwo was given by the commissioner of Ondangwa, Mr. Hugo Hahn, who
came in search of land to build an office. Upon his arrival, he asked local
headmen to give him land where he could build an office. The headmen gave
him a small plot, and when the headmen tried to give him more land, Mr. Hahn
responded saying "Opuwo (it’s enough for me): I don’t want any more land".
That is how Opuwo got its name. The local residents of Opuwo called it
Otjihinamaparero at the time, and some still call it that.
Hugo Hahn called the land “Ohopoho Otjitopora” which means "they see the
borehole and their water comes out". The name Otjihinamaparero was changed
to Opuwo in 1974 due to orthographic reform.
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