Sostenus Wilherm
Entrepreneur Isdor Muronga says a fire has destroyed much of a lodge he had been building for years in Andara village in the Mukwe Constituency of the Kavango East region, wiping out an investment of more than N$3 million and forcing him to appeal to Namibians for help to rebuild the project.
In an emotional video message released after receiving footage of the blaze from his home village, Muronga said the fire swept through rooms at the lodge while the development was still under construction.
“I am recording this video with a very heavy heart. I received a very disturbing video where rooms at the lodge that I have been building for years are burning to the ground,” Muronga said.
According to preliminary information he received, the fire appears to have been accidental. Muronga said one of the employees was burning rubbish when the flames spread to the lodge buildings.
“From the preliminary report that I have received so far, it appears that it was purely an accident where one of the employees was burning trash and fire from that spot somehow reached the rooms,” he said.
Muronga said the loss was devastating because he had invested nearly all his savings and years of work into the project.
“I put in all my savings, all my investments into this project and unfortunately it was not insured because it was still under construction, now I am back to the ground, back to zero with the project.”
He said he now faces the difficult task of finding money to restart construction without financial backing from a bank or other institution.
Muronga explained that the lodge was intended to become a source of employment and economic activity in the community, while also serving as a long-term investment for his family.
“I had spent the majority of my entrepreneurship days building this place because I thought it was going to create employment, it was going to be a safe investment for me, for my retirement, for my family and for my community,” he said.
The entrepreneur also used the incident to highlight what he described as a lack of firefighting services in rural areas.
Muronga said he believed the lodge could have been saved if a fire engine had been available nearby. He pointed to Divundu, where he said a firefighting truck had reportedly been out of service for some time.
“My place would have been saved if there was a firefighting truck nearby, maybe we should learn a lesson from this and say government should take seriously the needs of firefighting services in rural areas.”
He called on authorities to improve emergency response capacity in rural communities, arguing that businesses and residents outside major towns remain vulnerable when fires break out.
Muronga has now appealed to members of the public, businesses and government to assist him with rebuilding the lodge.
He said assistance did not have to be in cash and could include building materials such as thatch, poles and bricks.
“I urge my Namibian brothers and sisters, the business community, government and anybody who can come forth to assist me, whether by buying thatch, grass, poles, bricks or with monetary assistance,” he said.
Muronga said he is not employed and built the lodge entirely from his own savings, making it difficult to recover from the setback without outside support.
“I am an entrepreneur. I have no big savings. I have no banking institution that could finance this project. I built it from scratch, from my own savings,” he said.
Despite the destruction, Muronga said he still hoped to see the lodge completed and operating as originally planned.
He said any assistance would help him revive a project he believes could create jobs and benefit the surrounding community.
Muronga can be contacted on 081 442 2818 by those wishing to assist with the reconstruction of the lodge.
