Katima Mulilo | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Nickname: Ngweze | |
| Motto: Luyeme Hamoho (Together we stand) | |
 Katima Mulilo andLuhonono | |
  Katima Mulilo Location in Namibia | |
| Coordinates:17°30′14″S24°16′30″E / 17.50389°S 24.27500°E /-17.50389; 24.27500 | |
| Country |  Namibia |
| Region | Zambezi Region |
| Constituency | Katima Mulilo Urban |
| Founded | 1935 |
| Government | |
| • Type | Town Council |
| • Mayor | John Ntemwa |
| Area | |
• Total | 44.9 km2 (17.3 sq mi) |
| • Land | 44.9 km2 (17.3 sq mi) |
| • Water | 0 km2 (0 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 950 m (3,120 ft) |
| Population | |
• Total | 46,401 |
| • Density | 1,033/km2 (2,680/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+2 (CAT) |
| Postal code | 20002 |
| Area code | 066 |
| Climate | BSh |
| Website | kmtc |
Katima Mulilo, or simplyKatima is the capital of theZambezi Region inNamibia. It had 46,401 inhabitants in 2023,[3][4] and comprises twoelectoral constituencies,Katima Mulilo Rural andKatima Mulilo Urban. It is located on theB8 national road on the banks of theZambezi River in theCaprivi Strip in lush riverine vegetation with tropical birds andmonkeys.[5] The town receives annual average rainfall of 654 millimetres (25.7 in).[6]
The nearest Namibian town toKatima Mulilo isRundu, about 500 km away. About 40 km east of Katima Mulilo lies the village ofBukalo, where the road toNgoma branches off and joins Namibia toBotswana.
Established and run as agarrison for a long time, Katima Mulilo still shows signs of its military past. In the city centre was theSouth African Defence Force military base and almost every house had a bomb shelter. The town benefited from the military presence in terms of infrastructure and employment, and there are still a number of military bases surrounding the town.[7]
Since the opening of theKatima Mulilo Bridge that spans theZambezi River and connects the ZambianCopperbelt with the Namibian deep sea harbour atWalvis Bay in 2004, Katima Mulilo has become a boom town that attracts significant investment. This development has, however, also fanned illegal business activities and driven the establishment ofshanty towns to an extent that endangers social stability.[8]
The town features anExport Processing Zone and the largest open market in Namibia. There is an important international electricity inter–link facility, theCaprivi Link Inter–Connector; its inauguration has improved the power supply to the town. TheZambezi Waterfront Tourism project is currently[update] under construction.[7]The Caprivi Vision, a newspaper from and for the Caprivi, is published in town.[9]
Since being proclaimed a town on 2 October 1999, development has been steady, but Katima Mulilo does not yet compare to more established towns and cities in Namibia. Few streets are tarred, and there is a lack of street lights and sewerage. Many residents use the bushes for a lack of toilet facilities, and there have been many outbreaks of diseases such asdiarrhea.[10]
The town has been affected by corruption, financial mismanagement, and infighting between councillors. The water supply has been unstable because of debt to the national water supplier,NamWater.[11]
Katima Mulilo is the terminal town of the Trans–Caprivi Highway, and the highway, together with its extension to Zambia, is called theTrans-Caprivi Corridor. The Trans–Caprivi Highway was opened in 1999, and the bridge to Sesheke, and with it the entire Trans-Caprivi Corridor, in 2004.[12]
Katima Mulilo is not yet connected to theNamibian railway network. In October 2007, a proposal was announced for a railway connection between Namibia and Zambia, which would pass through the town.[13] The line would joinGrootfontein to Katima Mulilo, then run for 130 km toMulobezi with an 80 km upgrade of the line to Livingstone.
The town is served byKatima Mulilo Airport, situated about 18 km to the southwest, which is serviced by regular flights from the capital, Windhoek.[5]
The nameKatima Mulilo comes from theSiLozi forquench the fire, referring to nearby rapids in theZambezi.[14] From early days (and before the advent of firelighting matches), there was river transport by barge (propelled by paddlers) along theZambezi fromLivingstone toSesheke,[15] onwards past theNgonye Falls at Sioma, where an attempt was made in about 1905 to bypass the Falls with a canal.[16] Barges were unloaded and dragged by oxen around the Falls. The route continued toMongu, the administrative capital ofBarotseland, and northwards to the settlement of Balovale (nowZambezi) in the North West of Zambia, at13°33′04″S23°06′54″E / 13.551°S 23.115°E /-13.551; 23.115. When the barge reached Katima Mulilo, the fire was extinguished (but embers were kept), and the barge was unloaded and then dragged empty up the rapids, and re-loaded before continuing the journey – but not before the fire was re-lit.[citation needed]
On 28 January 1935, the administrative centre of the Caprivi Strip was moved fromSchuckmannsburg to Katima Mulilo. This date is assumed as the foundation date of Katima Mulilo. The regional office, the only brick-and-mortar building at Katima Mulilo at a time when the area consisted exclusively of pristine forests, was built under a giantBaobab situated near today'sSWAPO Party regional offices. In present times the tree is known as theToilet Tree because of a rest room carved into it.[17]
Katima Mulilo was very sparsely populated at that time. It had amissionary school run by theSeventh-day Adventists, and the small settlements were connected only bysleigh tracks. Without any roads nor other infrastructure it was difficult to administer theCaprivi Strip from here. TheSouth African administration therefore decided to shift the regional office again, this time toPretoria, in 1939. Given its proximity to important transport routes, particularly the railway bridge atVictoria Falls, the location of Katima Mulilo became strategically important in theSecond World War which broke out soon afterwards. All military supplies, people, and goods had to be flown in. The town's first car arrived in 1940 and belonged to the air strip operator.[17]
In 1940,William "Bill" Finaughty established the first shop in the Caprivi Strip in Katima Mulilo; the settlement that surrounded the shop was subsequently named after him. In the 1950s transport on theZambezi River was established and allowed connection to the train service atLivingstone. The M'pacha Airfield, todayKatima Mulilo Airport, was constructed in 1965 at a cost of 65 millionRand, an astronomical amount at that time when 2 Rand roughly equalled 1Pound sterling. A police station was erected in 1961.[18]
Katima Mulilo became asegregated town in 1965 when the erection of theNghweeze township began. The South African administration was unhappy with theMafulo informal settlement where members of theCaprivi African National Union (CANU) were staying and conducting political activism. As a response to this development, Nghweeze (derived from totela language:which literally means "stab me") township was established to enable some degree of control over Blacks by only allowing local workers and their families to take up residence. At the same time the central parts of Katima Mulilo were declared theKatima Mulilo Proper residential area and restricted to Whites. Contract workers from the companyLewis Construction from Salisbury (today'sHarare) inSouthern Rhodesia (today'sZimbabwe) that built Nghweeze camped in an area that for this heritage is named theLewis informal settlement. The town had only 575 inhabitants at that time but grew to over 5,000 by 1978.[18]
In 1971 the area around Katima Mulilo got involved in theSouth African Border War. As in World War II, it was a strategically important location, this time due to troop transports into and out of Zambia and Angola.[19]
The settlement also was at the centre of theCaprivi conflict in the 1990s, an armed conflict between theCaprivi Liberation Army (CLA), arebel group working for the secession of the Caprivi Strip, and the Namibian government.[20] In the early hours of 2 August 1999, CLA launched an attack occupying the state-run radio station and attacking a police station, the Wenela border post, and an army base. Astate of emergency was declared in the province, and the government arrested alleged CLA supporters.[21]
The oldest suburbs areNghweeze, the former Blacks' township, andKatima Mulilo Proper, the area restricted to Whites during theapartheid era.Butterfly,Cowboy,Choto andMahohoma are registered informal settlements of Katima, further parts of town are named Nambweza, Soweto (South–WesternTownships, a reminiscence of thefamous suburb ofJohannesburg), New Look, Mabuluma, Lyambai, Bebi, Greenwell Matongo, Macaravan East and West, and NHE (fromNational Housing Enterprises, a governmental low-cost housing company that drew development here).[4][22]
TheLozi people are aBantu-speakingethnic group native tosouthern Africa. They consist of several tribes, including theBafwe,Bambukushu,Basubia,Batotela, andBayeyi, each with its own dialect andtraditional authority. These tribes share the same Lozi culture and traditions.Silozi serves as the standard language that unifies them and is widely used in educational materials, media such as television and radio, and government communications. Additionally, Silozi plays a crucial role in preserving and promoting cultural heritage, serving as a common medium for cultural practices and ceremonies.
Additionally, there is a population ofSan, specifically theKhwe people, residing in Bwabwata in the western part of the region.[23][24] The town's coat of arms, still very similar to that used by theCaprivi government, depicts these tribes as two elephants facing each other, symbolising unity and peaceful coexistence of thetribal chiefs.[18]
Katima Mulilo has ahot semi-arid climate (KöppenBSh), bordering on a dry-winterhumid subtropical climate (Cwa). Almost all rainfall occurs from November to March, when the weather is hot and humid although substantially moderated by altitude. In the long dry season between April and October the weather remains hot although less humid at the beginning and finish, but very warm weather with chilly mornings occurs at the middle of this dry season during the Southern Hemisphere winter.
| Climate data for Katima Mulilo, Namibia | |||||||||||||
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| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 31.3 (88.3) | 30.5 (86.9) | 29.8 (85.6) | 29.1 (84.4) | 27.4 (81.3) | 24.5 (76.1) | 25.0 (77.0) | 29.1 (84.4) | 33.8 (92.8) | 33.0 (91.4) | 30.3 (86.5) | 29.8 (85.6) | 29.5 (85.1) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 19.1 (66.4) | 19.1 (66.4) | 18.7 (65.7) | 14.6 (58.3) | 10.2 (50.4) | 6.1 (43.0) | 4.6 (40.3) | 8.3 (46.9) | 14.1 (57.4) | 17.8 (64.0) | 19.3 (66.7) | 18.8 (65.8) | 14.2 (57.6) |
| Average rainfall mm (inches) | 169.4 (6.67) | 160.6 (6.32) | 88.7 (3.49) | 17.7 (0.70) | 1.9 (0.07) | 0.5 (0.02) | 0 (0) | 0.2 (0.01) | 2.6 (0.10) | 18.8 (0.74) | 69.7 (2.74) | 151.8 (5.98) | 681.9 (26.84) |
| Averagerelative humidity (%) | 68 | 66 | 70 | 61 | 53 | 53 | 62 | 50 | 42 | 46 | 49 | 57 | 56.4 |
| Source: Ministry of Works and Transport (Meteorological Service Division) "Ministry of Works & Transport: Tabulation of Climate Statistics for Selected Stations in Namibia"(PDF). 2012. | |||||||||||||
Katima Mulilo is governed by a town council that has seven seats.[23]
Zambezi Region, whose administrative capital Katima Mulilo is, is a stronghold of Namibia's rulingSWAPO party. It won the2010 local authority election with 2,197 votes, followed by theRally for Democracy and Progress (RDP) with 473 votes.[25] SWAPO also won the2015 local authority election by a landslide, gaining six seats and 1,875 votes. The remaining seat went to theDemocratic Turnhalle Alliance (DTA) which gained 163 votes.[26]
SWAPO also won the2020 local authority election. It obtained 1,530 votes and gained four seats and the majority in the town council. One seat each went to thePopular Democratic Movement (PDM, the new name of the DTA), theIndependent Patriots for Change (IPC, an opposition party formed in August 2020) and to theNational Democratic Party (NDP), which came in at 448, 252, and 147 votes, respectively.[27]
Before Katima Mulilo was officially founded, missionaries already ran schools in the area. TheSeventh–day Adventists operated one, as did theCapuchin Order.[17] Today there are a number of schools in Katima Mulilo such as Katima High School, Caprivi Secondary School, Kizito Secondary School, Ngweze Secondary School, Mavuluma Secondary School and many primary and junior secondary schools.[28]
Katima Mulilo has two institutes of tertiary education, theZambezi Vocational Center and a campus of theUniversity of Namibia (UNAM) for teacher training, formerly theCaprivi College of Education (CCE). At the time of the merger with UNAM, CCE had 400 enrolled students and 70 staff.[29]
The town houses the community-based Caprivi Art Centre and holds an annual Caprivi Cultural Festival.[5]
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