The story of Property Masters: Where is Patrick Kasulu?

In 2009, Patrick Kasulu, the 2000s property magnate, filed for bankruptcy after more than 169 people sued him on claims of defrauding them of more than Shs3b.
The law suits that had been sieved from more than 2,100 complaints lodged before police against Kasulu’s Property Masters, seemed indeterminable and thus required court attention.
The cases which required Kasulu’s presence in court for at least two days every week spiced up Property Masters’ folding, putting a bolt on the rise of one of Kampala’s meticulous property dealers.
Kasulu, who by any standards had lived large, arrived on Kampala’s property scene after establishing an office at the then Nile Hotel Conference Centre (now Kampala Serena Hotel), one of Kampala’s uptown locations.
Indeed his trade – Kayungirizi, a Luganda word for (the link), found itself into Kampala’s main stream slang and coined itself into the property vocabulary.
However, in 2004 Kasulu’s shine started to fade after he was on July 1, 2004 arrested and tried for issuing a Shs48m bad cheque to Faridah Birabwa.
The case seemed to have alerted the public as it later lifted the lid to one of Kasulu’s troubled years in which he was severally arrested for obtaining money by false pretence, falsifying and issuing fake documents.

Who is Kasulu?
Born on March 14, 1963, the father of three boys (now graduates) is a Munyole with origins in Butaleja District.
In the 1970s, he started his education at Mugulu Integrated Primary School, before moving to Kiira College, Butiki between 1980 and 1983 for his Ordinary Level.
In 1984, he moved to Nabumali High School where he was the head prefect between 1984 and 1985, before joining Makerere University, where he attained a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Public Administration.
At university, he was a resident of Nkurumah Hall, where he held the then powerful interior ministry position in the halls’ guild.
At the close of 1998, Kasulu attained a Masters degree in Higher Education Management from Makerere University, where he went on to become a senior assistant academic register until September 2001.

Early life and work
Before cutting his mastery into the property market, between 1990 and 1994, Kasulu worked as a personnel officer in several government agencies and ministries.
But in 1994, he moved to Makerere University as an assistant academic registrar at the Institute of Statistics and Applied Economics, which then operated as a regional project.
However, he was in 2000 transferred to the Faculty of Social Sciences as a senior assistant academic registrar, a position he held before quitting in September 2001.

The Property Masters journey
After smelling cash, Kasulu quit Makerere University to put his energies on a project that he had baby sat for about five months.
“Life in Makerere [university] had become boring and without challenge,” Kasulu said when he was sounded out for this article, adding “Thus in February 2000, I started thinking of alternatives, which would later morph into Property Masters.”
Indeed, the challenge was a sweet test as the smell of cash had given Kasulu an informed decision, which forced him to fully quit the Ivory Tower in September 2001.
Between 2000 and 2001, Kasulu had been moonlighting between Makerere University and Property Masters but the busy schedule, especially with his property business, forced him to ask for PhD study leave as he sought to get more time to nurture his ‘baby’ (Property Masters).
However, Kasulu could not even commit time for his PhD, considering he had become too busy to even look after himself.
His commitment to work gave Property Masters an opportunity to enjoy a fast-paced organic growth, spreading into different parts of Uganda, among which included Jinja, Mbale, Gulu, Masaka, Lira and Arua.
The business extended to regional markets including Kenya and Tanzania with agent offices in United Kingdom and Washington DC.
By close of 2003, Property Masters had become a reference point for not only Ugandans but also those living abroad and in need of property here.
However, in May 2004, trouble started following Kasulu as a lawsuit by Faridah Birabwa seemed to have punched holes in the property magnet’s illustrious business.

But what happened?
Although Kasulu claims business interference was the cause of his troubles, close watchers believe otherwise.
Ivan Kyeyune, a Kampala businessman, who claims he had been a link between a certain buyer and Property Masters at one time, told this reporter, signs of Kasulu’s collapse had started to unmask in the later part of 2002, considering that he could not manage the unplanned fast-paced growth.
“He never expected that growth and he did not realise that he needed expert advice. Otherwise Kasulu had also become arrogant and hated competition, which would have freed him of customers he did not necessarily need,” Kyeyune said when asked to opine on his (once) erstwhile business partner.
“Additionally, he had become a high table routine, which trapped him into unnecessary expenses, not forgetting that he spent massively on publicity and media.”
Indeed at the tail end of his folding Property Masters he had a large publicity and advertising bill with an outstanding debt of more than Shs180m for Monitor Publications Ltd (MPL) and more than Shs200m of Vision Group.
Information obtained indicates MPL wrote off the debt considering that court had dismissed a suit that Daily Monitor publisher had lodged against Property Masters. However we could not readily establish whether Vision Group also wrote off.
Kasulu also seemed to have been beaten by the Kampala showy lifestyle bug as reports indicated he offered unlimited sums of money to musicians at social functions.
For instance, while attending a Jose Chameleone’s launch in Kampala, Kasulu wrote the singer a Shs1m cheque but before he could hand it over it fell into a swimming pool, prompting him to write another but with an addition of Shs1m. This, according to Kyeyune, was an indication of a man who had no plans on what he could give and not to as he “sought to depict himself as one with a large heart”.
Notably, however, Kasulu’s troubles had for some time been growing but were climaxed in 2004 after he was arrested and charged over a Shs48m bad cheque.
The arrest, according to Kyeyune, must have created anxiety among those who had pending transactions as days into Kasulu’s arrest, more than 2,100 complaints had been lodged at police CID headquarters with claims of uncompleted transactions, fraud and obtaining money by false pretense.
Kasulu, was months later arrested and remanded to Luzira prison, from where he commuted to CID headquarters on a daily basis to solve some of the cases that did not need court action.
Police had established a semi office at CID in Kibuli from where Kasulu could appear every morning to clear some of the cases with clients. Indeed the bulk of these complaints were settled save for 169, which were taken to court but later withdrawn or dismissed for lack of evidence. The last case was closed in 2011.

Life in prison
Kasulu spent one-and-half years in prison but deservedly, as he says: “I needed to be in prison because I could no longer hold the pressure”.
“When I was arrested the second time, I didn’t apply for bail not because I could not but because I needed to shake off pressure that had become too much for me,” he told this reporter.
“People wanted to kill me. There was even an attempted arson at my house (in Seeta). Some had camped there (at my home) with guns. I felt safe in prison but feared for my family,” he said.
Before he was arrested, Kasulu had spent two months sleeping in hotels, including Rider Hotel in Seeta and Shanghai Hotel (around Kampala Club) in Nakasero, Kampala.
In prison, Kasulu, who briefly got saved, resided in the Upper section of Luzira for six months before moving to Main Bay, one of the sections reserved for VIPs.
His transfer to VIP was necessitated by the fact that he needed to keep constant communication with some people outside prison, given the unique nature of some of his cases.

Where is Patrick Kasulu?

After failing to revive his property business through Agulirawo Property Consultants, Kasulu, close associates say retired to a life of farming in Butaleja District, where he has a 100 acre fruit farm and a banana plantation on 10 acres.
Kasulu confirms his new found trade but he is quick to add: “Am still in the properties business but I only do big deals, where I can get commission in tens of millions of shillings. Am not yet retired, am there but on a small scale.”
He is also involved in dog selling with a breeding farm in Namawojolo, Mukono District. However, he conducts the selling at his home in Seeta, which sits on a five acre piece of land.
But one thing he says he remembers about his time in prison is the close interaction with Kampala’s famous, including Kizza Besigye, the former FDC president, and Aggrey Kiyingi, the Australian cardiologist, who recently declared his intention to stand for Presidency.

Profile
Patrick Kasulu, former Property Masters’ managing director
Age. 52
Background. The father of three boys (now graduates) is a Munyole with parentage in the current Butaleja District.Education. He started his education at Mugulu Integrated Primary School, before moving to Kiira College, Butiki for his ordinary level studies. He later moved to Nabumali High School for his advanced certificate of education. He holds a Masters Degree in Higher Education Management from Makerere University.