School dropout builds four rooms for rent with sh8m
Jun 13, 2013
In 1993, when George Osudo of Nakifuma could not go further with his education, he thought that was the end of his life. His mother, Justine Nalumansi could dig in people’s homes so that she could give her children some little education, but time came when she could no longer manage to sustain the
By Maureen Nakatudde
In 1993, when George Osudo of Nakifuma could not go further with his education, he thought that was the end of his life. His mother, Justine Nalumansi could dig in people’s homes so that she could give her children some little education, but time came when she could no longer manage to sustain the whole family.
“Though I wanted to study. I could not. My mother could no longer afford to pay fees for all the nine children single handily,” remembers Osudo the second born in the family.
As a result Osudo dropped out of school with some of his siblings. When that happened, Osudo could not sit at home and follow his mother in the garden. He had to find something to do unlike his father who was just interested in drinking and not taking care of the family.
In 1994, when Osudo’s classmates enrolled for senior one, he engaged in coffee business. “I started buying coffee from farmers and selling it,” says Osudo.
He started with buying a tin of coffee at sh5,000 and later in 1995; he upgraded it to buying a sack.
In 1996, Osudo bought a store at Kanikwa in Kyampisi near Nagalama with a capital of sh150,000 while paying rent of sh5,000.
“That is when I bought a weighing machine and people started bringing coffee to me and I would later sell it to other traders and made profits.”
Still in 1996, things were good for Osudo. He managed to save sh970,000 and he used the money to buy nine acres of land in Wabusanke, Nakifuma, Mukono district.
His main purpose of buying land was to build there a home and also a place where he could do some commercial farming. He planted coffee and bananas to supplement his coffee business.
He also wanted to give some part of the land to his mother so that she could engage in commercial farming and take care of his other siblings.
Building his first house
Now that Osudo had land, his next step was to build a home. From his banana plantation and coffee business he managed to save sh2.5m, and in 1997, he started building. He used 8,000 bricks altogether and each cost sh36, and they were burnt near his site so there was no transport cost involved in moving them to his site.
So he spent about sh299,000 on bricks. He built the house till it reached the wall plate level and relaxed there for two years as he continued saving and running his business with the aim of roofing.
Each wood for roofing cost sh3,500 and he used 70 pieces of wood on the house. He bought iron sheets and each cost sh18,000. He used 36 iron sheets. A car of sand cost sh25,000 and he used six of them on the entire house.
To save on the costs, Osudo fetched the water himself using a wheel barrow. The house took 100 jerrycans of water. In a day he would fetch 10 jerrycans. The four roomed house took Osudo two years to build and it cost him sh8m altogether.
Osudo says he designed shops because he wanted to rent out the rooms so they would become his other income generating source, but he has plans of erasing the shops so that he can build a big house.
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Thoughtful: Osudo’s other building in Wabusanke. He rents it out as shops
Building his second house
In 2009, from his coffee and farming proceeds Osudo bought a (50 by 100 feet) plot of land in Mayangayanga city centre in Nakifuuma at sh3.5m and he built another four roomed house. The house has two shops in front and also two rooms behind. In one of the shops, Florence Kayaga, Osudo’s wife uses it as a clinic because she is a nurse.
“I bought that piece of land because I saw the town was growing very fast and I needed a place where I could transact my businesses,” says Osudo.
When he started to build his second house Osudo had sh4.7m. He constructed the from the foundation to wall plate and the money ran out. “I had to stall the building project for a year as I made more money,” he says. “When I got sh3.8m I roofed the house.” In 2009, each brick cost sh70 and Osudo used 10,000 bricks. A bag of cement cost sh28,000 and he used 55 bags of cement on the house.
A small car of sand cost sh50,000 and he used six cars. Each iron sheet cost sh20,000 and he used 36 iron sheets to roof his house.
He used 80 pieces of wood on the house and each cost sh5,000. So the wood cost him sh400,000 altogether.
According to Osudo, the second house cost sh8.5m to finish and it was completed in 2011.
Osudo advises those who intend to build to be there and supervise their building projects so that the builders do not steal the building materials.
Osudo is 32 years and is married to Florence Kayaga, a nurse and together they have six children.