Mpiima has built his house for the last 29 years

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Mpiima's house which he has built over the last 29 years . . . and he is not done yet.

By Christoper Bendana

His niche was quality work. Charles Mpiima made money by selling his furniture to known brands.

Each time he sold a large stock, he spent the money on constructing his house. He was so pennywise that he saved much of the money he made to build a house.

Buying the plot

Mpiima bought the plot of land at Luyinja, Namungoona in 1984 and started construction a year later. “I hated the trouble of renting,” he points out. “All I wanted was a plot in an area near town.”

He paid for the plot in two instalments. First, he paid sh180,000 in January 1984, and another sh90,000 in October 1984.

The bricks

To reduce on the costs of buying bricks, he bought a plot in a valley, where he hired labourers to make for him bricks. He paid them a daily wage.

They made a total of 9,000 bricks, but Mpima says they were not enough for the house. He had to buy the remainder in order to complete his house.

The valley was a distance of about half a kilometre from his home, so he did not spend much on transport. With the bricks at the site he was set for construction.

The construction

Through a friend, he hired a mason whom he paid daily. First, he constructed the shell, taking him about a year. After a year’s rest, he roofed his house. From then on, each time he got money, he injected it in the house. After plastering, he entered the house even before applying cement screed on the floor.

“All these finishings have been done while I am in the house,” he explains.

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Charles Mpiima relaxes in his sitting room. PHOTO/Christopher Bendana

Being a carpenter, he designed match-boarded timber doors and windows, which he hurriedly fixed and entered the house.

He has since replaced the doors and windows with glazed metal casements.

On the same plot, Mpiima has been able to build three tenement units around his house. He still has plans of adding another unit.

The construction has taken over 29 years and is still on-going. When he finally relocated to his house, Mpima also shifted his workshop to the home. He set it up in the backyard so that he could supervise the construction.

The house has a timber board ceiling in position. He has beautified the exterior with half-bricks to the front and between windows. The house’s extension is yet to be plastered. His home is connected to electricity and water grid.

Mpiima says he controlled loss of materials by supervising the builders himself. He says although he delayed to complete his main house, he is happy he built rentals, which are earning him some considerable amount of money.

Brick trick

To reduce on the costs of buying bricks, Mpiima bought a plot in a valley, where he hired labourers to make for him bricks.

In numbers

Sh270,000: The cost of Mpiima’s land 30 years ago

1984: The year when Mpima bought his plot of land in Namungoona.

29: The number of years it has taken Charles Mpiima to construct his house, and he is still counting

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