Kyengera: Where one can hardly get a plot of land

The name Kyengera is new. The original name before that was “Ndikuttamadda’’ because of insecurity during the late 1980s. Joseph Lutakome, who has spent most of his life in Kyengera says the area started developing during the early 1990s and has been progressing since then.
Kyengera is one of the most developed towns along Kampala-Masaka highway and one cannot fail to talk about it during his or her journey to western Uganda. This is because of its busy activities ranging from Muchomo to roasted gonja.
Kyengera is only seven miles away from Kampala. The fare is Shs1500 in a commuter taxi. The cost of living in Kyengera is relatively affordable compared to some Kampala suburbs.

Land and housing in Kyengera
After Kyengera being elevated to town council level, acquiring land in the area has become one of the hardest things since 2015. According to Martin Ssewagudde a prominent land dealer, a 50ft by 100ft costs Shs25m, something that has put many at no advantage of acquiring land.
Some elders have kept on fragmenting their land in order to acquire more wealth, especially when they sell their land to those who want to expand their boundaries. So, getting an acre of land in Kyengera has become so hard. If one is lucky enough, they can only acquire an acre of land at Shs200M. It can even be more depending on its distance from the Kyengera Trading Centre because it has become a benchmark for selling and buying land in Kyengera Town Council.
Having rentals in Kyengera has also become one of the most profitable businesses because those with rentals have resorted to increasing their rent fee because of the huge hunt for them.
This place has been boosted by the many happening places ranging from night clubs to mini-bars. Rentals in Kyengera range from Shs150,000 single rooms, Shs300,000 for double roomed houses while self contained houses go for Shs550,000 to Shs1m depending on the zone where the house is located.
The increasing number of estate companies in the region has also paved way for the increment of rent fees because of the development they bring up and this raises competition between individuals and the estate companies.

Security concern
Like any other suburb, Hajj Abdul Kiyimba, the Nsangi Sub-county Chairman, says security in the region has been stable apart from a few criminals during the wee hours but routine operations by the concerned security officers have continued to eliminate the unfit criminals in the region in order to protect people’s property and lives.

Infrastructure challenge
The common challenge that affects all the five zones that make up Kyengera is poor road network, especially those off the main road which have been murram for long despite promises by politicians to tamarc them.
Another problem the area faces is that they only have one health government facility. There are private health facilities but they are so expensive for the residents.