President Museveni lauds NBS housing baraza

A SPEECH BY H.E Y. K. MUSEVENI PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF UGANDA AT THE LAUNCH OF THE INAUGURAL NBS HOUSING BARAZA PRESENTED BY THE SECOND DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER HAJJI ALI KIRUNDA KIVEJINJA 

 JULY 25, 2019

 KAMPALA SERENA HOTEL

 

• Hon Ministers;
• Hon Members of Parliament;
• Investors;
• Exhibitors;
• Ladies and Gentlemen.

 

I have the pleasure to officiate on this event of NBS Housing Baraza which I trust will yield meaningful solutions to our Ugandan housing sector. I thank the organisers for their invitation to me on this forum.

I am glad this conference highlights the continued efforts of the NRM Government to grow the housing sector, given its importance as a basic human necessity. Housing is one of the key indicators of a person's standard of living and has a significant impact on the health, welfare, social attitudes and economic productivity of a household.

The Government of Uganda, under the NRM leadership, has continued to spearhead the growth of the housing sector. It has over the years created a conducive environment that enables the people of Uganda develop affordable decent shelter and this is visible in many areas of the country.

It has also put in place supportive policies and legislations to enable stakeholders fully participate without any encumbrances. For instance, government operationalized the Constitutional provisions of land ownership through the Land Amendment Act of 2010 which strengthened the protection of tenants commonly known as “Bibanja holders” from evictions by land grabbers.

This has been augmented by putting land units in the Police and the Office of the President to support the handling of land issues and many Ugandans have been assisted by this arrangement.

However, much as government continues to play its regulatory role in the lands, Housing and Urban development sector, it realises the need for more housing in the country and it is working hard to attract local and foreign investment in all the sectors of the economy with the aim of creating a self-sustaining economy for the population and the housing sector is not an exception.

According to the National Development Plan 2016/2019, the annual need for housing is estimated at 200,000 units. This is resulting from the rapid population growth rate of 3.4 percent per annum and the 5.2 percent urbanization rate which all indicate that Uganda will need about 12.6 million new housing units within the next thirty years.

Whereas the housing deficit presents a challenge to the constrained national resources, it also creates a viable business opportunity for investment in the housing sector.

I, therefore, call upon the private sector community to partner with Government and invest in the construction and financing of planned housing estates in the urban and rural areas of Uganda, in order to provide decent shelter for our people while taking benefit of the resultant economic prospects in the coming years.

Uganda is also enjoying what Economists call a “demographic dividend” arising out of our young population where about 55% are below 18 and another 20 or so percent between18-30. While this is a good indicator of our labour productivity prospects as a country, a more urgent question is; what kind of living conditions these young people are being confronted with as they enter the world of work and grow their careers. Therefore, the theme of today’s dialogue; Housing for Wealth Generation is very timely.

On this occasion, I wish to reiterate that all stakeholders in the housing sector should first, focus on the process of building decent affordable houses for the people because it carries many benefits and secondly, appreciate the economic benefit, more so at a time when I am advocating for a national focus on wealth creation at the household level.

I am glad that this Housing Baraza does not only bring together experts in the sector but also includes representatives from Government and critically, the public that is affected by the lack of sufficient affordable housing.

Finally, I believe that working together we can exchange ideas and come up with solutions to the challenges in the sector. I encourage you to discuss freely and come up with actionable proposals that we can take up as Government working together with you as the public and partners in the private sector so that we make affordable housing a reality.

It is now my pleasure to declare this inaugural NBS Housing Baraza open.

I thank you.