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Nekemte, also spelled as Neqemte (, Amharic: ነቀምት), is a market city and separate woreda in western Ethiopia. Located in the East Welega Zone of the Oromia Region, Nekemte has a latitude and longitude of and an elevation of 2,088 meters.
Nekemte was the capital of the former East Welega, and is home to a museum of Machaa Oromo culture. It is a burial place of Onesimos Nesib, a famous Oromo who translated the Bible to Oromo Language for the first time, in collaboration with Aster Ganno. It is also the seat of an Apostolic Vicariate of the Roman Catholic Church. Nekemte is host to Wollega University. It is served by an airport.
Nekemte is at the center of the road network for south-western Ethiopia. The first major road dates to the early 1930s, with a road that extended from the capital Addis Ababa west through Addis Alem, although the road was passable only by lorries for the 255 kilometers between Addis Alem and Nekemte. Pankhurst later notes in his book that this road had five toll-gates. A road connecting Nekemte to Gimbi, 110 kilometers in length, was part of the first stage of the Third Highway Program in 1963. Postal service for this city has been present as early as 1923. A branch of the Ethiopian Electric Light and Power Authority began providing electricity to the city by 1960. By 1957, phone service extended to the city.
Nekemte was formerly overshadowed by nearby Lieka and Bilo, the former regional markets. Nekemte acquired some importance when Bekere Godana in 1841 extended his rule of Nekemte over more area to form a new polity known as Leqa Neqemte and later his son Moroda Bekere made it the capital of Leqa Neqemte in the mid-19th century. Under Mereda's son Kumsa Moroda (Gebregziabher Moroda after converting to Christianity), the city continued in its importance as it submitted to Shewan rule. The Russian explorer Alexander Bulatovich visited Nekemte 13 March 1897; in memoirs he describes its marketplace as "a very lively place and presents a motley mixture of languages, dress, and peoples", and carefully described the paintings in the city's newly constructed Ethiopian Orthodox church. In 1905, a central government customs office was officially opened in Nekemte. Construction on a hospital began in 1927, and was completed in 1932 with Swedish funds as well as contributions from Ras Tafari (who later became Emperor Haile Selassie). It formally opened 16 February 1932, although it had already been in operation for eight months.
During the Italian invasion, Nekemte was bombed by the Italians 5 July 1936; this included dropping 19 bombs on the recently constructed school complex of the local Swedish mission. Dejazmach Habte Maryam, governor of Welega, accepted the Italians and received Colonel A. Marone who arrived by air on 14 October and the troops of Colonel Malta who reached the city on 24 October, after having marched by foot and mule for twelve days from Addis Alem, which weakened Ras Imru Haile Selassie's attempts as Prince Regent to establish a center of resistance at Gore. After his successful return to Ethiopia, on 20 May 1941 Emperor Haile Selassie visited Welega where fighting still continued and where Kebede Tesemma was in charge of the Arbegnoch. When he attempted to visit Nekemte, his party came under artillery fire.
Climate
The city has a mild highland subtropical climate (Köppen: Cwb). With a lower elevation than Addis Ababa, Nekemte has a slightly higher average temperature, differing mainly in the low averages. The average annual temperature is 18.3 °C (high: 24 °C and low: 12.6 °C), although to the north of Equator March is the warmest month and July the coldest month. With more than 2080 mm, it is one of the rainiest places in the country, with most of that rain occurring in the Summer. Nekemte is on an imaginary line where western winds give way to eastern ones. It is one of the seven rainiest cities in the country. From about 2007 to 2017, a nearby meteorological station showed an average annual temperature that, though lower than that from 1990, was still higher than 1970, when rigorous recordkeeping began there, as well as greater precipitation than that seen in the 1980s.
Demographics
The 2007 national census reported a total population for this woreda of 75,219, of whom 38,385 were men and 36,834 were women. A plurality of its inhabitants were Protestant, with 48.49% of the population reporting they observed this belief, while 39.33% of the population said they observed Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity, and 10.88% were Muslim.
The 1994 census reported this city had a total population of 47,258 of whom 22,844 were males and 24,414 were females. Nekemte is the largest city in Guto Wayu woreda.
Sports
Association football is the main sport in Nekemte. The Welega Stadium, which has a capacity of 50,000, is the largest sports venue by capacity in Nekemte. It opened in 2019 and the stadium is also mainly used for football, and also for athletics.
See also
- List of cities and towns in Ethiopia