Buziga: The hide-out for the affluent

May 25, 2007

HERE was once hearsay that no one was allowed to build a house on Buziga Hill unless it was tiled. The truth of the matter hangs in the balance, but all the new houses that sprung up here have tiled roofs. Today, many developers are going for this plush neighbourhood that real estate prices have sho

By Titus Serunjogi

HERE was once hearsay that no one was allowed to build a house on Buziga Hill unless it was tiled. The truth of the matter hangs in the balance, but all the new houses that sprung up here have tiled roofs. Today, many developers are going for this plush neighbourhood that real estate prices have shot up.

Today, a 25-decimal plot goes for about sh80m at Buziga, thrice what it would have gone for a decade ago! Famous residents here include members of the first family, businessman Hassan Basajjabalaba and returnees from kyeyo (odd jobs abroad).

Some of the areas are so elitist that you will hardly find a bed-sitter for rent. However, there are self-contained houses whose rent is between sh450,000 and sh1.3m per month. Recently, HL Investments began constructing a 90-mansion estate on the hill. But many of the houses have already been booked, yet they are not yet finished.

Why the sudden attraction to Buziga? Salongo Ssewankambo, a resident, says barely two decades ago, the area was mostly wild grass and shrubs.

Much of the land was part of the Buganda royal estate and was largely neglected. The few residents who were there then included subsistence farmers who had built crouching, iron sheet-roofed houses besides their banana plantations.

Things begun changing soon after CBS FM set its mast atop the hill. A few years later, many people would go to relax at the newly-constructed Buziga Country Resort, which has a superb view of the lake and a relaxing atmosphere.

Ssewankambo says the elite crowd that used to frequent the resort ended up buying real estate and settling in the area. Thus the boom started. Today, even landlords with small pieces of land can reap big money from the elitists.

The newer mansions have luxurious architecture, glass walling and wrought iron rails. Many are storeyed and have perimeter walls.

However, the developers all seem to have conspired to make lush gardens. The lawns are well-kempt with flower beds and conifers.

Needless to say, the newer developers can afford piped water from the nearby Ggaba station. But the new homes in Buziga are yet to be connected to the national sewer system, so they use septic tanks. There is also a village well. But it often gets blocked in the rainy season, so residents shun it for the standpipes.

The latest residents here work in Kampala and they can afford to drive themselves to and from work. Otherwise, taxis here go for no more than sh1,000 per route, but they get rare beyond 10:00pm.

A source at the LC1 office says there has not been a single case of burglary at Buziga in the past three years. Cases of petty theft, handbag-snatching and mugging have also ceased. The fact is, the new home-owners all have security guards, sometimes army soldiers whose presence, perhaps, intimidates the thugs.

The downside here, though, is that the area also lacks government-funded school. Many of the parents have their children studying at schools in Kampala city centre.

The place has no shopping malls, big pubs nor discotheques to keep people up and about at night. Indeed, Buziga is meant to be a residential area, with lots of peace and quietness.

There is not even a large produce market, so residents have to depend on Munyonyo and Ggaba markets. For pubs, nightclubs, discotheques, they have to go all the way to Kansanga or Kabalagala from where they can also access automatic teller machines.

At its rate of growth, it is of no doubt that Buziga will soon melt into the nearby Kkonge village.

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