Dâures Constituency

Dâures (Khoekhoe for Brandberg,^[1] until 1998: Brandberg Constituency^[2]) is a constituency in the Erongo Region of Namibia. It is named after the tallest mountain in Namibia, the Brandberg. It had a population of 11,350 in 2011, up from 10,289 in 2001.^[3] As of 2020^[update] the constituency had 7,882 registered voters.^[4]

Dâures constituency (red) in the Erongo Region (yellow)

Dâures Constituency extends from the national road B2 to the Ugab River and has a radius of approximately 120 km.^[5] Largest settlement in the constituency and seat of the constituency office is Uis. It also contains the settlements of Okombahe and Omatjette, as well as the smaller populated places of Grootspitzkop, Odama, Omihana, Okamapuku, Otjohorongo, Ovitua, Ozondati and Tubusis.^[6][7]

Politics

Dâures has been a United Democratic Front (UDF) dominated constituency since its establishment in 1992. Only in the 2010 regional elections, SWAPO took the lead for the first time with Ernst Katjiku getting 1,394 votes, 23 more votes than Apius Auchab of the UDF (1,371 votes).^[6] Fredrika Gertze of the National Unity Democratic Organisation received 207 votes and Seth Angalie Manga of the Rally for Democracy and Progress received 195 votes.^[8]

In the 2015 regional elections the constituency went back to the UDF with Joram Kennedy ǃHaoseb winning 1589 votes against Katjiku's 1390.^[9] I was the only constituency won by the UDF in these elections.^[10] ǃHaoseb was reelected in the 2020 regional election, winning the constituency with 1,448 votes. SWAPO was again runner-up, its candidate Theresia Inecia Brandt received 1,147 votes. In third place was Abiud Uaja Karongee, an independent candidate. He obtained 481 votes.^[4]

Economy and infrastructure

Apart from the B2 on which it borders, Dâures constituency contains only untarred roads. The main economic activity is agriculture.^[6]

References

1. Malan, Johan S (1998). Die Völker Namibias [The Tribes of Namibia] (in German). Windhoek, Göttingen: Klaus Hess. pp. 134–135.
2. "Re-division of certain regions into constituencies: Regional Councils Act, 1992" (pdf). Government Gazette of the Republic of Namibia. No. 1940. Government of Namibia. 31 August 1998. p. 20.
3. (PDF). Statistics Namibia. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 October 2022. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
4. . Interactive map. Electoral Commission of Namibia. 18 January 2021. Archived from the original on 12 June 2021. Retrieved 16 March 2021.
5. Heita, Desie (20 April 2010). . New Era. Archived from the original on 16 July 2011.
6. Ekongo, John (31 March 2011). . New Era. Archived from the original on 31 March 2012.
7. "Constituencies". Erongo Regional Council. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
8. (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 July 2011. Retrieved 2 January 2011.
9. "UDF upsets Swapo in Daures". New Era. 30 November 2015.
10. Menges, Werner (29 November 2015). "Mixed results for opposition in regional polls". The Namibian.

21°08′S 14°34′E / 21.133°S 14.567°E / -21.133; 14.567