Edgar Brandt
Windhoek-In the wake of increased opportunities in the road construction sector, five individuals recently attended training offered by the Roads Authority, in conjunction with Otjozondjupa Regional Council.
In fact, the training was offered to 12 local upcoming SMEs in total and consisted of environmental, health and safety, technical construction skills, measuring and calculating quantities and pricing, small business management and entrepreneurship.
However, after considering their individual skills the five men took a bold step to join hands in an initiative that saw them combine their talents and formed what is today known as Ronam. Today, Ronam is an upcoming road and civil construction and maintenance company.
“A great success story to emanate from the training is the formation of a company called RoNam, which was started by five of the course delegates. After the training, they were given an opportunity to construct two of the gravel access roads providing access to the local villages along the route.
“Technical support and assistance was provided by the resident engineer and the contractor and the works were completed successfully,” said chairperson of the Roads Authority, Hileni Kaifanua, during the recent opening by President Hage Geingob of the road from Otjinene to Okamatapati.
“We decided to form a consortium to which us five individuals all belonged. We took this decision because we did not all have the same skills and experience. Some of us had experience in earthmoving, while others had experience in other aspects like security and de-bushing.
“That is why we decided to pool our resources and we formed Ronam, which is short for Roads Namibia,” explained one of the five, Stanley Njembo.
During an interview with New Era, Ronam chairperson Theophilus (Bob) Tjiuma explained: “The idea was not to compete with each other but to share not only our experiences and knowledge but ultimately also the profits.”
The group of five added that it was a good feeling to be publicly acknowledged during the recent road opening in the Otjozondjupa Region, noting that it was commendable to see people pledging their support for Ronam.
After numerous trials and tribulations, today the company is involved in the heavy construction sector with a focus on infrastructure development.
Ronam is proud to call itself a diversified group offering construction services in road building and rehabilitation, road marking, railway lines, bulk earthworks, fencing bush clearing and the production of asphalt, to name a few.
“Of course we had our share of arguments,” admitted Manfred Katuuo, also an executive director at Ronam. “We are human beings and what is nice about this group of men is that we are all mature individuals. This means that even after an argument we were able to put any harsh feelings aside to get the job done, on time and under budget,” Katuuo affirmed proudly.