He bought three plots of land from burning CDs

Frank Jah Mugerwa at his home in Buziga. It took him a year to complete this house and he says his favourite room is the sitting room. PhotoS by Edgar R. Batte

Among the people who won the HiPipo awards last week was Frank Jah Mugerwa aka Jah Live under the Best Video Producer category. He spoke to Edgar R Batte about how he built his house while in his early 20s.

I used to work with my mother at her shop in Mukwano Arcade where she largely deals in shoes from China. On the side, I used to burn music and I would get Shs200, 000 per day on average. I was uploading music on people’s phones and at the time, I would charge Shs3, 000 per song.
However, my breakthrough was in early December 2009 when I shot my first music video titled Bwekiili by Rabadaba. It opened doors for me. That is when I registered Jah Live Limited under which I have done over 200 videos.
As long as I can remember, my mother has always told me that for everything I will get, I will have to work hard to earn it. So, when I made 22 years, she told me to start thinking of acquiring land and later on build myself a house.

BUYING LAND
I started saving to buy land and I realized that when you save with a dream in mind it helps you focus. When I had saved up to Shs5m, I identified land somewhere in Buziga, not in the posh areas but on Kabaka’s land.
I bought the land in 2008 at Shs12m but I paid in two instalments. The land is not proportionate. It is 80 feet by 75 feet by 60 feet. But I was happy to achieve this because I always believe in hard work thanks to my mother’s grooming.
By the time I bought this land, I had not started the business of shooting music videos. I was still downtown where I would upload music onto phones. Someone would come and ask me to upload about 10 songs which would earn me Shs30, 000.
I have always believed that everyone on earth should have a house. So, when I bought my first land, I started saving for another piece of land which I bought in Busabala, off Entebbe Road at Shs8m.
It overlooks the lake and I chose it particularly to help me relax. It is 200 feet by 175 feet. I bought the land because I was focusing on the future. It was very bushy at the time.
Today, there is a lot of construction taking place there. I have been approached by people who want to buy it at Shs20m, but I have declined. I have another piece of land along Salaama Road, of 30 feet by 40 feet. I bought is at Shs2.5m.

THE BUILDING PROCESS
Before I started building, I first saved. My mother had told me one of the most expensive part of building a house was roofing and finishing. So, even before they dug up the foundation, I paid for the iron sheets. I then saved up to about Shs4m which would enable me build up to the wall plate.
The reason I did this was because I had seen many houses which were incomplete and I did not want mine to be one of such houses.
I got a site engineer and asked him to give me estimates on how much it would cost me to construct a house with a sitting room, two bedrooms, kitchen, bathroom and garage.
I asked him to give me estimates up to the wall plate. He calculated the number of bricks, cement, iron sheets, sand and other materials. He calculated Shs8m. I got information from him and went to the field to verify the costs. I realized that I needed more money than he had suggested. I spent Shs10m and more which I would get from my daily income.
There came a time when too much money was going onto the construction site. I would inject about Shs500, 000 in a day. I felt the pressure increasing, so I asked my cousin brother to help me supervise the builders because I suspected the materials were being stolen. But I was wrong.
After roofing the house, I halted the construction process for some time. I knew I would do the rest slowly. I then started saving for the windows and doors which cost me about Shs4m. The most expensive of them was the garage door and sitting room door. After installing the windows and doors, they fixed the ceiling and floor.

FINISHING
I had never expected that finishing would be very expensive. It was at this point that I got to understand why most houses were incomplete. Finishing a house costs almost the same amount as building a house shell.
I was spending a lot of money. My friends thought I had money but could not see me spending it on fun activities. At this point I stopped documenting or getting to know the costs.
I would get money and pay the builders. It was pressuring yet it was a venture that did not make any returns. I managed to complete the house and moved in after a year.

LESSONS
Not and easy task. My building experience taught me that building a house is not a small thing. It takes a lot of courage, resources and pressure. It is advisable that you are on site to supervise builders because it teaches you a lot on how materials are used and in what quantities. And, also allows you know what to do if you are planning on continuing to build.