President Yoweri Museveni on Thursday commissioned the $72m SOLANA Lifestyle and Residences housing estate built by the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) and used the occasion to appeal to all Ugandans to understand the importance of raising joint and collective capital which he said was the only way society can finance and undertake big projects.

President Museveni tours one of the housing units. PPU Photo

The SOLANA housing project is located in Lubowa, Wakiso district.

The housing project which is the first phase of a 10-year housing project that will be on 600 acres when completed, has 300 houses on 60 acres of land. The housing units include bungalows, apartments and villas among others.

Museveni said Ugandans need to grow into the culture of growing joint capital and be able to do big ventures reminding them that NSSF has been able to undertake big projects countrywide over time because of the collective savings of Ugandan workers.

“Collective saving is important. That’s how capitalists developed their countries by floating shares and raising capital to do big investments and ventures that they could not do individually,” the Museveni said.

The interior of one of the units. PPU Photo

The President further said that because of the need to raise joint capital in the country, the National Resistance Movement government has always promoted and encouraged the formation of Saving and Created Societies (SACCOS) country-wide so that Ugandans can be able to raise capital jointly and do big ventures together without necessarily going to banks for loans that are very expensive.

Museveni further said the pre-occupation of the NRM government is to get the 39% who are still in a subsistence way of life and join the money economy.

He said that it is only when all nine million families of Ugandans get into the money economy that they will be able to purchase all the houses in the many estates that NSSF is putting up or even building for themselves decent accommodation.

The President saluted the board and management of NSSF for investing wisely and contributing to solving the housing shortage in the country.

He said that the government will look into the reported value-added tax levied on residential houses that are not commercial as well as find means of boosting the availability of mortgages to Ugandans.

An aerial view of the NSSF housing project in Lubowa. PPU Photo

Finance minister Matia Kasaija commended NSSF which he described as an outstanding public enterprise.

He pleaded on behalf of his ministry that they are soon to invite the NSSF management to discuss and find solutions to the challenges facing the fund.

NSSF managing director, Richard Byarugaba, said the fund is committed to reshaping the housing sector in Uganda.

Richard Byarugaba the NSSF managing director speaks during the ceremony. PPU Photo

He said that with an increase in rural-urban migration and industrialisation, with 13 million Ugandans now living in urban centres and with the projection that 50% of the population of Ugandans will be living in urban areas by 2050, there is a need to increase investment in housing to mitigate the housing shortage in the country.

He added that the contribution of cities and urban centres to GDP had increased from 19% in 1995 to 43% today which he said calls for proper planning and increased budgeting for cities and urban centres.

Byarugaba said that Uganda needs to develop a mortgage development bank to enable Ugandans to access mortgages so as to be able to buy and own residential houses noting that currently, very few Ugandans can access mortgages.

He called on the government to look into the several land wrangles that are rampant in the country which he said had negatively impacted the real estate developers NSSF inclusive.