Help! How do I revive my dying project of housing for 30 families?

By Joachim Buwembo

…possibly, the only person Ugandans despise more than a pedophile is a male aged above forty who doesn’t own his shelter…

Fellow Ugandans!

Let me share my ongoing painful experience that started with a lot of hope six years ago when I decided to organize 30 residents mostly in Kampala’s Nakawa Division to build a modern housing estate on cooperative basis.

In 2017 after 25 years of practicing journalism in different countries and capacities, I believed I was done with formal employment and when I saw an opportunity to serve humanity while enjoying it at the same time, I went for it. As a consultant helping to develop content for the youthful Urban TV then, I had commissioned and directed a series on the fate of the cooperative movement in Uganda. It wasn’t very exciting for the young Urban audience but it was so deep and insightful that the parent company’s newspaper, The New Vision, adopted it for print and it caught the attention of some interested stakeholders.

One morning, a beautiful young lady of small build turned up at the New Vision reception asking for me. She looked really young and I mentally started dismissing her thinking she wanted an opportunity to appear on TV as a presenter of some social programme (there are always so many of those). But Miss Petite turned out to be the general manager of the only cooperative union our series hadn’t touched and the reason was simple: Just like its GM, the Uganda Housing Cooperative Union was too young to have existed during the period under review of our series when the cooperative unions (umbrellas of primary cooperative societies) were mostly about agriculture.

For the next two hours, I set aside my schedule and listened attentively as Fiona – that is her name – introduced me to the concept of housing development on cooperative basis. By the time I saw her off, I had already decided what I was going to do besides supporting the union with publicity: organize people to build quality houses affordably.

I already had a relatively nice house myself and was trying to figure out how to protect or dispose of another one I had built for my then freshly deceased mum, but I knew of so many people working at steady jobs who did not own their homes.

Fiona had promised to take me on a tour of an estate (she soon did) built by a cooperative of poor urban women who were living with a lifelong health condition, of course under guidance of her union.

I decided there and then to organize people and help them build a modern estate on cooperative basis. Apparently I was a Rotarian at heart five years before joining Rotary. I needed to help people, because all Ugandan cultures equate maturity to ownership of one’s shelter. The natives of Kyadondo say akezimbira tekaba kato (one who builds for himself is not young) and possibly, the only person Ugandans despise more than a pedophile is a male aged above 40 who doesn’t own his shelter.

The preparation took about three months. First Fiona’s team came and started training the people I mobilized who included some civil servants, ‘corporates’ business people of medium to small scale. At the end, everyone knew fundamental and principles of cooperatives, and the basic laws governing them in Uganda.

We ended up with about 50 willing members. To register, we needed at least 30 members with national IDs and these readily signed up. We agreed to pay annual subscription of Shs20,000 each for administration and a monthly Shs200,000 per member for the actual project. Members seemed excited especially when working out different scenarios with numbers, it was clear that building a smart, modern house would cost much less when done with economies of scale in a group that would be buying materials from the factory, shared utilities and facilities like sewerage, recreation areas and roads, while the union was providing technical assistance with architecture, civil engineering supervision and accounts.

One year later, the group had raised enough cash to buy four acres complete with a title, some 30km from the city on one of the highways. But for years after, it is still just that – a piece of land. What happened? Or what did not happen?

The first sign of trouble sounded like a joke: “But when will ‘they’ come and help us?” someone asked at a meeting. “They” must have meant either government or some donor organization.

In meetings, some members started mentioning government programmes like operation wealth creation, which the group should try and benefit from. Then contributions started dwindling and by the time the land was bought, only half of the original 30 were upto date. This meant that after 12 months, some people had contributed the expected Shs2.4m each while others hadn’t.

By the end of the third year, only eight members were up to date with a contribution of Shs7.2m. The Executive decided to stop coxing people to pay up and urged everybody to first build their contributions to Shs7.2m, so that they can participate in the next level. Ideas being mooted include diving the membership into clusters of every five that attain the Shs7.2m per person to develop their mini estate within the estate.

Challenges now faced include the law – which requires a minimum of 30 to remain and enjoy the privileges of a cooperative society; members wanting out that “the coop isn’t working for me” (as of they are working for it); the likelihood that the clusters of 5 mini estates will not enjoy the economies of scale that the whole 30 would have; silence by dormant members who are not saying what they want or don’t want. By the way, you can’t terminate dormant members whose IDs you used for registration as the society will cease being legal, and recruiting new ones is tough given the inactivity.

So dear Ugandans, I bring my dilemma to you. As initiator of that housing coop, I avoided being on the executive, but I am still its conceptual leader of sorts so ideas I get from you will be taken seriously by the cooperators. But I also believe we can’t just help the poorest of the poor, but to uplift even those who are somewhere, like the members of my coop. Who knows, if the coop recovers, we use the model to help societies help themselves develop decent housing all over the country. Didn’t somebody say “Give me a fish and feed me for day; teach me how to fish and I feed myself for a lifetime”?

I have heard that there is the second annual Uganda Housing Symposium due Thursday 5 October 2023 at the Mestil Hotel in Nsambya organised by Habitat for Humanity in collaboration with the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development among other partners. I hope that it will provide with me some of these answers. But before that, you can drop me your ideas.

buwembo@gmail.com

Tags: Denis Jjuuko, Government of Uganda ., Habitat for Humanity Uganda, Joachim Buwembo, Ministry of Lands, Prime Time Communications, Uganda Housing Symposium

Out to Lunch

#OutToLunch: Watoto’s Kabaka anniversary do and why ability transcends DNA

By Denis Jjuuko On the last day of July 1993, a mammoth crowd gathered at Naggalabi hill in Buddo to witness the historical occasion of coronating Prince Ronald Muwenda Mutebi as the 36th Kabaka of Buganda. For many people in Buganda that day, it is something they had not witnessed in their lifetime. The last coronation had taken place in November 1942 and then the kingdom was abolished in 1966, the Kabaka exiled and an opportunity to coronate his heir temporarily lost. I remember my guardian giving us a rare day off to watch the live telecast all day. This is the only day I remember where we didn’t have to be bothered with house chores. You could pick a cup of tea and just sit in front of the tiny television set in the living room—as long as you didn’t make noise to distract the elders. And being a Saturday, it helped. There was no school to attend. Given Uganda’s demographics, many watching the 33rd coronation anniversary last Friday at Watoto Church in Bweyogerere were either too young or not yet born in July 1993. It was therefore refreshing when Katikkiro Charles Peter Mayiga opened his speech with a memory lane of the events of that day in 1993. He perfectly understood the audience of his message. There are many young urbane educated people who sometimes look the other way when it comes to cultural issues. Some see culture as a road block to their Christian values and aspirations. Holding the coronation anniversary at an urbane church for a young largely educated audience sent a message that culture and religion can and should co-exist. The Watoto leadership embraced the occasion like no other and left no stone unturned in organizing a befitting ceremony. I think this was the first time that a major kingdom event, coronation or birthday, had been held outside the usual hills — Namirembe, Lubaga, Namungoona, Namasuba and Kibuli where Anglicans, Catholics, Orthodox, Adventists and Muslims are headquartered or largely based respectively. You rarely see religious leaders from all denominations gathered in a Pentecostal church, some dancing, waving or in deep prayer during the praise and worship sessions that are common with Pentecostals. The religious leaders were also joined by politicians of all colors. Another example of how culture can be a uniting force. Even though the Kabaka wasn’t personally in attendance in adherence to advice of his medical team, the people turned up in huge numbers, prayed for him and commemorated the day like no other. More others spent the day listening to live broadcasts on radio or watching on television and online. Perhaps watching from his Kireka Palace, a stone’s throw from Watoto’s vast Bweyogerere campus, the Kabaka might have smiled or even nodded at some of the energetic performances Watoto put together in his honor. The more I watched the charismatic young leader of Watoto Church, Pastor Julius Rwotlonyo, preside over perhaps the biggest event of his pastoral journey, the more I thought about Ugandan businesses. Watoto, previously Kampala Pentecostal Church or simply KPC, was founded in 1984 by Canadian missionaries Garry Skinner and his wife. Rwotlonyo was either a toddler or not even born yet. He has no known blood relations with the Watoto founders but today, he is the leader of the church. Pastor Skinner and his wife are alive and are known to have children. But they chose a successor that isn’t their relative. They saw somebody who can further advance their mission and decided to retire and give him the executive suite at their famous building in downtown Kampala. Because of the occasion, Skinner sent in a recorded message. Otherwise, he is not known to be involved in every little thing that happens at the church he founded. This teaches us that we can start businesses, set systems in place, and identify teams that can continue leading when our time to go comes. The successors may or may not be our children. That DNA should not be the only requirement for somebody to lead the businesses we start. Ability to deliver should transcend DNA. It should be in the interests of founders to identify and nurture young people who can take over the business. Since the Skinners handed over Watoto to Rwotlonyo, we haven’t heard any fights like it is common for Ugandan businesses when the founders leave. And had they been involved in any scandals, certainly the Kingdom of Buganda wouldn’t have honored them with an opportunity to host a coronation anniversary. It is something founders must ponder. The writer is a communication and visibility consultant. djjuuko@gmail.com

August 12, 2026

Out to Lunch

#OutToLunch: Stronger African economies will create a World Cup winner

By Denis Jjuuko The football World Cup ended recently with Spain lifting the golden trophy after defeating Argentina 1-0 in extra time. This year’s tournament has seen the teams expanded from 32 to 48 of which 10 were from Africa. It is by far the biggest football World Cup ever in nearly 100 years since the competition was first organised in 1930. The organizer, FIFA, is even now talking about further expanding it to 64 national teams. One of the major talking points of the tournament has been the performance of teams from Africa. Only Morocco made it to the quarterfinals. Unlike in the last tournament in 2022 in Qatar, Morocco reached the semifinals. It is the only time an African team had reached that far in the tournament. Countries outside Europe and America didn’t do much either this year. Of the four countries that qualified for the semifinals, only defending champions Argentina is outside Europe. Needless to say, that Argentina was being inspired by Lionel Messi, probably the best player the world has ever seen since Pele and Diego Maradona. Anyway, why don’t African teams perform that well in the World Cup competition yet unlike Asia or the Middle East, football is the most popular sport on the continent? Many young boys on the continent wake up to kick the ball in the streets. Many others try to create professional careers while others watch it for hours on end especially over the weekend. Even though the interest is immense, sports, not just soccer, isn’t considered a major career pathway for many people on the continent. Parents rather push their children into other professional careers than sports. Go to school, get an education, find a job and live a better life thereafter. Sports such as soccer provide very short careers. About 10 years if you are lucky. By the time a player is 30, most likely their career is over. Of course, there are outliers like Messi who is 39 years old and still performing at the top level and Christiano Ronaldo who is 41 years old. But for the majority of players, they don’t stay in the game for that long. Of course, there are other areas in which they can earn after retirement such as coaching, television punditry and podcasting, scouting and even management but the openings are even fewer. Look at the premier league for example, there are only 20 teams and each team has about 30 players, which translates to a paltry 600 players. To make it to the premier league or any of the top leagues in the world is for the exceptional. I think that is why parents usually guide their children away from sports. Besides it is expensive to support a child’s career to develop to a level where he can attract interest of the big highly paying professional leagues. If you are in Africa, the odds are highly against you. Sport is poorly funded. Infrastructure is almost non-existent. A kid with talent needs high quality coaches, kits and infrastructure to make it. Do they exist? Hardly. In many communities, the kids play on bare grounds and in urban areas those grounds are being turned into bland shopping malls. A parent would have to invest in flying a child to European academies to get the best training they need to make it. How many such parents have such resources? And if the kids are good, they would be assimilated in Europe. If you look at the three European countries that reached this year’s semifinals, there are quite a number of immigrants. Some may have been born in Europe, but there are also others who weren’t born there. England’s Marc Guehi was born in Ivory Coast. Of course, north African teams had players born in Europe but usually those are few. And many only chose African teams after failing to impress European countries. We always talk about professionalizing our leagues but it is difficult if the economies are weak. Unless we prioritize developing our economies, African teams will always struggle to win the World Cup. Weak African economies can’t afford to pay top young modern coaches. We end up picking hustlers from eastern Europe or pensioners from western Europe, whose ideas and methods are way past their sell-by dates. Stronger economies would create big companies that can invest in sport as sponsors or even in club ownership (many private equity and hedge funds own clubs in Europe/America for example). Clubs would be able to sell tickets and merchandise at premium rates, develop players they can sell to other clubs in Europe and elsewhere at world market rates and create a sports ecosystem that generates millions of dollars every day. If our economies remain as they are today, we can kiss the World Cup goodbye. The writer is a communication and visibility consultant. djjuuko@gmail.com

August 5, 2026

Out to Lunch

#OutToLunch: Students joining universities could self-teach themselves AI to disrupt sectors like agriculture

By Denis Jjuuko The month of August sees public universities open their gates to first year students. Joining university is one of the milestones many young people celebrate, the last step in the journey to the pinnacle of education. In a few years, they would be out of university and joining the workforce. But also, university in Uganda is really the first time somebody enjoys adulthood. The pampering starts to end once you join university. There are no teachers and wardens chasing you out of your room to attend class. Most universities don’t care much how you dress. If you are female, you decide whatever you want to do with your hair. Nobody sends you back home for having a mobile phone. It is in fact a taboo not owning a smartphone. You can return or not even return to your digs. Real freedom is perhaps only enjoyed while at university. When you leave and get married, you start being accountable for every little thing but then I digress. However, it must also be a mixed feeling for many parents, guardians and the students themselves. Have they chosen the right academic course? Will the jobs be available when students finish their academic journeys given the artificial intelligence (AI) disruptions we hear about every day? Many decades ago, a university degree meant a good job. Employers booked future workers before they even graduated. And upon graduation, people found themselves with decent jobs, housing, cars and whatever they needed to succeed. Today, there is no guarantee. The numbers of people joining the labour force are higher than the jobs available. The majority of Ugandan jobs, more than 70%, are in agriculture. Many young graduates aren’t very comfortable working there. In many poor agrarian economies, the pay is usually low and work is in remote areas. The majority of students are from rural communities and they want to try life elsewhere. They have been told for nearly two decades that education is the clearest pathway to a better life, which it is. If they attain education at the highest level only return to the village to work in agriculture, many people would look at them as failures. Yet it shouldn’t be. If you remove gold, coffee is Uganda’s biggest export earner bringing in billions of dollars annually. People have turned their lives around recently because of coffee. The agronomical practices may have changed a bit thanks to campaigns like Mmwanyi Terimba of Buganda Kingdom but there is still a lot that needs to be done. If we are to reach our target of 20 million bags of 60kg annually from about 8.6 million, we need to send some of our educated people to agriculture. The knowledge acquired at university should be used to improve the coffee value chain or any other agricultural product. It could be sales and marketing, post harvest handling, agronomy, logistics, finance, investments, procurement, accounting, value addition etc. Farmers would also have to appreciate the value that graduates bring to the field if they are to see improved yields. Many people employee the least educated and qualified people to look after their investments in agriculture. Pick a boy who can’t even write his name and put him in charge of a poultry farm of 20,000 birds or a 20-acre coffee farm. The results are expected. Frustrations upon frustrations. Africa’s food import bill is nearing US$100 billion a year yet we have a youthful population that is looking for work. How do we put young highly educated people to work in agriculture? If coffee is improving the lives of farmers in Bukomansimbi, it means it can employ young people and give them decent salaries. And the young people will work hard to improve yields on the farms or profitability in the value chain because that is a guaranteed way for them to improve their incomes too. If we reduce how much food we import, that can be money directly put in the pockets of young people. However, the policy makers might be on other perfunctory things. As young people join universities, they need to think of how they can work in sectors like agriculture and turn them around using whatever qualifications they acquire. That is where the jobs are. The universities will likely teach them basics. The majority of university students have a lot of time. Some have classes for a few days a week or just in the evening or a few hours a day. They can use new technologies like AI to teach themselves a few things that may help them disrupt sectors like agriculture. That way they will create value that leads them to securing decent jobs. The writer is a communication and visibility consultant. djjuuko@gmail.com See less

August 5, 2026