He picks money from real estate, farming

MAJESTIC. Edward Beyendeza (R) has constructed a multi-million retirement home in Karagwe village, Ntungamo District. PHOTOS BY Perez Rumanzi

What you need to know:

Man on mission.
At the age of 52, together with his wife Caroline Beyendeza as a partner, Edward Beyendeza is an inspiration to many people as he embarks on building an empire in real estate and farming, writes Perez Rumanzi.

After two parallel careers spanning more than two decades, Edward Bekunda Beyendeza, 52, was scouting for something else to do when his retirement came.
While the retired accountant still felt energetic for a new challenge, he also wanted an income-generating project to sustain him.

As he agonised over what to do, Beyendeza heard of a man in Ntinda, Kampala who wanted to dispose of a property in a prime area.
When he approached him with an offer to buy it, he realised it was not as easy as he had thought.
“The man wondered whether I would have the money he wanted,” Beyendeza says.
As he raised more than Shs200m from his personal savings and those from farming to buy the land, little did he know that he was getting sucked into the highs and lows of property development.

After purchasing this property, he developed a vacant portion of it into a four-storey office complex.
When the building was complete, private companies occupied three floors and paid a year’s rent up-front. Having the income from the venture, he says, he could no longer control the appetite to expand. He then bought another vacant plot in Bukoto and Entebbe. He developed them and put houses up for rent.

Today, Beyendeza, whose net investments is worth billions of shillings, has aptly immersed himself into the multimillion-shilling property development industry. At 52, together with his wife Caroline as a partner, he an inspiration many people as he embarks on building an empire in real estate.
His latest addition is a Shs800m four-storey, ultra-modern country home in Karagwe village, Itojo Sub-county in Ntungamo District.

Farming
Karagwe village, is an ordinary settlement like any other, where many families engage in subsistence farming. You will find small farms dotted with vegetables and bananas with residents harvesting about three times in a year.
But the retired accountant has set out to change this practice by engaging in commercial mixed farming.
Beyendeza keeps dairy cows, grows bananas and a variety of trees especially eucalyptus. “I went into farming after taking early retirement from civil service after 23 years of service,” said Beyendeza, who has about six employees and when starting, he invested about Shs5m.

Expands
With the farm in Itojo returning profits, Beyendeza opted to expand. He bought more than two square miles of land in Kayunga District where he has established a dairy farm and agroforestry.

At the farm in Kayunga, Beyendeza grows more than 100 acres of eucalyptus trees. He is planning to add more acreage and plant pine trees.
“I will be harvesting the trees by 2020,” says the former bursar of Uganda Management Institute.

How he planned
Beyendeza reckons he started planning his retirement the day he got his first job in 1994.
“I would save 60 per cent of my salary. My dream was to start my own business and be my own boss,” he says.

Beyendeza bought the farm in parts over time while still working. His passion fruit garden brings in at least 50 tonnes of the fruits every year. On average, he sells each bag at Shs600,000 to markets in major towns including Kampala.
From his banana plantation, Beyendeza gets more than 20 tonnes per harvest.
He sells each banana at Shs10,000 to middlemen at farm gate. “I grow the purple passion fruit variety that performs well when planted with manure that I get from my dairy cows,” he says. Beyendeza also sells milk.