Kasajja makes a fortune from pork
SEEING a Land Cruiser with a customised number plate, you would expect to see a managing director. But the man had a humble beginning, with only sh12,000 as capital. Hakuna Matata, which literally means ‘there is no problem’, is the name for a chain of popular pork joints in Kampala. They belong
By Joshua Kato
SEEING a Land Cruiser with a customised number plate, you would expect to see a managing director. But the man had a humble beginning, with only sh12,000 as capital. Hakuna Matata, which literally means ‘there is no problem’, is the name for a chain of popular pork joints in Kampala. They belong to 33-year-old Moses Kasajja.
“Give me pork for sh6,000 and ‘escorts,†one man shouts out at one of the famed pork joints. The pork is served on wide platters. The ‘escorts’ include vegetables and cassava. The topics discussed are football, politics and business.
Hakuna Matata pork joints are the brain child of Moses Kasajja,. His story is one of patience and perseverance. He started in Luweero, moved to Maddu in Mpigi in the late 1980s and finally to Kampala. In Kampala, he sold clothes at St Balikudembe Market, before he found his niche in pork.
“I started with around sh12,000 in 1990,†Kasajja says. At the time, he had four poles and papyrus that created a shade.
It was the typical village pork joint: Dirty men without shoes, chopping a small piece of pork. The joint had no name. Kasajja says: “It was very difficult to see people of class eating pork in the open.
Many people bought the pork, roasted it and ate it at their homes. I worked harder and saved a lot,†he says. “One of the biggest problems in Uganda is that people do not want to save. They think that one must first have millions before he or she starts saving.â€
“I expanded the pork shade in Makindye, added a few chairs and another shade. From my savings, I was able to establish the chain of pork joints.†As the business expanded Kasajja’s patrons found problems directing their friends to the joint. The issue of the name then came in.
“Hakuna Matata’ appealed to me. It is soothing when one says, there is no problem,†he explains. He operates five pork joints. Two in Makindye and the other three in Kabalagala, Nakulabye and Kiwatule.
Kasajja dresses colourfully. When The New Vision visited him at one of his joints, he was dressed in a basketball outfit of the Los Angeles Lakers. He looked like a basketball player.
The pork joints are painted white with a little brown and red. “White signifies cleanliness,†he explains.
Like the rest of the walls and floors of all the joints, the toilet walls are covered with white tiles. There are cleaners in the toilets all the time.
Animal paintings also feature at Kasajja’s joints. At one of them in Makindye, there are big statues of cattle, crocodiles and lions. Around them is a fountain. Because Kasajja loves perfection, he says it takes long to construct the joints. “I grew up seeing cattle. My grandfather had so many and I loved them,†he says.
By any standard, Kasajja is a successful man. “One of the reasons I have succeeded, is because I supervise my businesses,†he says. Kasajja and his wife wake up at 6:00am everyday.
“We buy pork from Wambizzi near Nalukolongo,†he says. On a holiday or a weekend, each of the five joints slaughters about 10 pigs. A pig weighs about 25kgs. Therefore, an average of 250kgs is sold at every joint. Once the pork is delivered at the joints, the fat is removed.
Years ago, there was a belief that roasted pork was the reserve of the poor. “Today, I think that pork is the reserve of everybody, including the rich and famous,†Kasajja explains. He says unlike chicken, goat and beef that are roasted everywhere, pork is exceptional.
His customers include professionals and non-professionals.
At Kasajja’s pork joints you will find an assortment of drinks, pool tables and luxurious unisex hair salons.
He never had formal education. Unlike most business people, Kasajja attributes his success to savings. “I have a dream of owning a building in the centre of the city. You can only do it if you have support from the bank,†he says.
Adjusting his LA Lakers unscripted cap, he says failure to go to school was not an obstacle, but a challenge. He has been able to view many things with a much wider lens.
“All of us have unique factors that can help us succeed whether we get an education or not. I discovered these traits and adopted them,†he adds. Kasajja employs at least 150 people. He loves cars. Among his fleet of vehicles is a Land-cruiser with a personalised number plate. “I like watching motor sport. I also do martial arts,†he says.
Kasajja was born to Michael Kyeyune, a resident of Wakiso district. Kasajja married in the early 1990s. He has six children, the oldest of whom is in S2. Kasajja is a happy man, thanks to pork.
SEEING a Land Cruiser with a customised number plate, you would expect to see a managing director. But the man had a humble beginning, with only sh12,000 as capital. Hakuna Matata, which literally means ‘there is no problem’, is the name for a chain of popular pork joints in Kampala. They belong to 33-year-old Moses Kasajja.
“Give me pork for sh6,000 and ‘escorts,†one man shouts out at one of the famed pork joints. The pork is served on wide platters. The ‘escorts’ include vegetables and cassava. The topics discussed are football, politics and business.
Hakuna Matata pork joints are the brain child of Moses Kasajja,. His story is one of patience and perseverance. He started in Luweero, moved to Maddu in Mpigi in the late 1980s and finally to Kampala. In Kampala, he sold clothes at St Balikudembe Market, before he found his niche in pork.
“I started with around sh12,000 in 1990,†Kasajja says. At the time, he had four poles and papyrus that created a shade.
It was the typical village pork joint: Dirty men without shoes, chopping a small piece of pork. The joint had no name. Kasajja says: “It was very difficult to see people of class eating pork in the open.
Many people bought the pork, roasted it and ate it at their homes. I worked harder and saved a lot,†he says. “One of the biggest problems in Uganda is that people do not want to save. They think that one must first have millions before he or she starts saving.â€
“I expanded the pork shade in Makindye, added a few chairs and another shade. From my savings, I was able to establish the chain of pork joints.†As the business expanded Kasajja’s patrons found problems directing their friends to the joint. The issue of the name then came in.
“Hakuna Matata’ appealed to me. It is soothing when one says, there is no problem,†he explains. He operates five pork joints. Two in Makindye and the other three in Kabalagala, Nakulabye and Kiwatule.
Kasajja dresses colourfully. When The New Vision visited him at one of his joints, he was dressed in a basketball outfit of the Los Angeles Lakers. He looked like a basketball player.
The pork joints are painted white with a little brown and red. “White signifies cleanliness,†he explains.
Like the rest of the walls and floors of all the joints, the toilet walls are covered with white tiles. There are cleaners in the toilets all the time.
Animal paintings also feature at Kasajja’s joints. At one of them in Makindye, there are big statues of cattle, crocodiles and lions. Around them is a fountain. Because Kasajja loves perfection, he says it takes long to construct the joints. “I grew up seeing cattle. My grandfather had so many and I loved them,†he says.
By any standard, Kasajja is a successful man. “One of the reasons I have succeeded, is because I supervise my businesses,†he says. Kasajja and his wife wake up at 6:00am everyday.
“We buy pork from Wambizzi near Nalukolongo,†he says. On a holiday or a weekend, each of the five joints slaughters about 10 pigs. A pig weighs about 25kgs. Therefore, an average of 250kgs is sold at every joint. Once the pork is delivered at the joints, the fat is removed.
Years ago, there was a belief that roasted pork was the reserve of the poor. “Today, I think that pork is the reserve of everybody, including the rich and famous,†Kasajja explains. He says unlike chicken, goat and beef that are roasted everywhere, pork is exceptional.
His customers include professionals and non-professionals.
At Kasajja’s pork joints you will find an assortment of drinks, pool tables and luxurious unisex hair salons.
He never had formal education. Unlike most business people, Kasajja attributes his success to savings. “I have a dream of owning a building in the centre of the city. You can only do it if you have support from the bank,†he says.
Adjusting his LA Lakers unscripted cap, he says failure to go to school was not an obstacle, but a challenge. He has been able to view many things with a much wider lens.
“All of us have unique factors that can help us succeed whether we get an education or not. I discovered these traits and adopted them,†he adds. Kasajja employs at least 150 people. He loves cars. Among his fleet of vehicles is a Land-cruiser with a personalised number plate. “I like watching motor sport. I also do martial arts,†he says.
Kasajja was born to Michael Kyeyune, a resident of Wakiso district. Kasajja married in the early 1990s. He has six children, the oldest of whom is in S2. Kasajja is a happy man, thanks to pork.