Oniipa history revived

The Oniipa Town Council, through its company LA Oniipa Investments (Pty) Ltd, has acquired the operating rights to two historic sites in northern Namibia from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia (Elcin) - the Nakambale Museum and the Onandjokwe Hospital Medical Museum.Last week the church and the local authority signed a 20-year museums' operation agreement that will see the council developing the sites to make them flourishing tourist destinations.Speaking at the occasion at Olukonda, environment and tourism minister Pohamba Shifeta commended Oniipa and Elcin for reaching the agreement, which he said will be of mutual benefit. He said the agreement will see Oniipa assuming responsibility for the museums. He, however, urged the council to avoid shortcuts while developing the sites.“The Nakambale Museum is one of the very important historical sites in our country and it provides a context and answers too many historical questions. The museum has a brand, with significant potential for growth, as part of culture and heritage tourism. I am however informed that in its current state it is not able to make full use of its potential, due to a lack of tourism standards around Olukonda and a lack of knowledge in terms of branding, promotion and marketing,” Shifeta said.He urged the council to properly plan the renovations and upgrading of the site. Shifeta said the local authority needed to take into account that both sites are the nation's heritage, and as tourism destinations, their standard should depict this.“Avoid shortcuts in developing these facilities, plan properly and build in consideration of the environment. These are beautiful sites and we should preserve all these trees around the sites, taking into account the Oshiwambo culture in the designs of whatever you are going to build here. Take care to incorporate circular structures, as this is our traditional way of building. Make sure the doors are traditionally located,” he said.Olukonda was a popular home to Finnish missionaries, as it has been in existence for more than 140 years.According to Elcin bishop, Shekutamba Nambala, Finnish missionaries arrived in Ondonga in 1870 and settled in Omandongo at the time of King Shikongo Shakalulu. In 1871 they established their side-station at Olukonda and in 1880 missionary Martti Rautanen was appointed the head of this centre. Under Rautanen, who was called Nakambale by the local people, Olukonda became the pioneer of Finnish missions in Namibia and the first post office was established there in 1911. Before his death as a result of malaria in 1926, Nakambale translated the Bible into Oshindonga. “Against this background of important historical significance presented by the Olukonda history, in 1991 the Elcin resolved to convert the Olukonda church, mission house and cemetery into a museum and suggested to the government for these infrastructures to be declared national monuments,” Nambala said. In 2015 the Museums Association of Namibia in cooperation with the Embassy of Finland and the Nakambale Museum, launched what they call a “unique black and white photo exhibition” of Finnish memories of northern Namibia at the Finnish stronghold in Namibia, Olukonda.The exhibition shows some photos that might be the very first pictures ever taken in northern Namibia, which were donated by the Finnish Mission Museum in Helsinki. According to Oniipa Town Council CEO, Junias Jakob, it will upgrade the Nakambale Museum, which will include the construction of 12 bungalows, and also establish a leisure park.Shifeta however said the town council should make sure the standard of the museum does not go down and that the agreement is not in vain.“It is important that you involve the most knowledgeable people, both from a traditional and modern perspective. Our projects fail and continue to fail because we look down at our culture and we do not use the experts we have, both traditional and modern. Also make sure you involve all relevant stakeholders, such as the tourism private sector proper, the Namibia Tourism Board and other tourism professionals,” Shifeta said.

Oniipa history revived

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Namibian Sun 2025-05-09

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Oniipa history revived

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Namibian Sun 2025-05-09

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