By Mulengera Reporters
Located on Gaddafi Road behind Ham Towers of Makerere, Bamus Sarovar Portico Kampala, Uganda’s newest swanky international-level hotel facility owned by Ugandan Entrepreneur Hajji Badru Muwanga, was officially opened on Saturday during a glamorous event that was presided over by Minister Evelyn Anite.
The event was graced and addressed by many stakeholders (numbering more than 300 in total), with UBC deputy MD Maurice Mugisha serving as the day’s MC. The five-star facility boasts of 90 state of art rooms and conference rooms each with capacity to host 300 guests at a time.
Leveraging President Museveni’s enabling policy characterized by VAT exemption on purchases like furniture and all the other machinery plus the corporation tax exemption of up to 10 years, the area skyline-changing high rise facility took Hajji Muwanga (also owner of Luuka plastics, Ntinda Complex etc) over 6 years to put it up at the well-situated and easily accessible location on Makerere hill. Partners like Tropical Bank, Bank of Baroda & Exim bank were all recognized and thanked for the support rendered during that period.
Because of the good investment climate, which President Museveni was commended for putting in place, Hajji Badru Muwanga easily attracted Sarovar Portico International Hotels (a global reputable brand with hundreds of five-star hotels in Europe and Asia Pacific) to come and partner with him. That international collaboration is good for marketing to attract international guests and also for purposes of knowledge and technology transfer, which the business is already benefiting from.
The Sarovar brand with over 150 hotels globally has already been operating in regional markets such as Dar es Salaam Tanzania, Kenya, Lusaka Zambia (where there is the best hotel), Ethiopia and South Sudan. They are also hospitality market leaders in India where group chairman Ajay Bakaya flew from to come and grace the Saturday grand Bamus hotel opening in Kampala.
Besides Ajay, who pledged total support to ensure that the new facility effectively plays its role of strengthening Uganda’s hospitality and tourism industry, other speakers included BAMUS Holdings Group Chairman Hajji Badru Muwanga, the MD Twaria, Finance Ministry’s Director Economic Affairs Moses Kaggwa and Minister Evelyn Anite.
Whereas Twaria thanked the Bamus family members for their sacrifice which enabled Hajji Muwanga to dedicate plenty of resources onto the hotel project for six years and colleagues in the Bamus holdings (such as Judith Mwebaza) for their relentlessness and dedication, Moses Kaggwa commended Hajji Muwanga for prioritizing sinking so much money in the hospitality and tourism industry which is one of the five key growth areas President Museveni’s government has identified as the leading enablers of growth whose amplification must lead to the transformation and enlargement of Uganda’s GDP from the current $61.3bn to the targeted $500bn by 2040.
Before inviting Anite to give her address, Kaggwa saluted Hajji Muwanga for demonstrating that it’s possible for local investors to make it big in the private investment world. He also commended him for coming up with Bamus Sarovar Portico Hotel project, which besides the Nsambya-based Marriott and Nakasero-based Hilton to accelerate the growth and transformation of Uganda’s hospitality sector.
In her speech, in which she celebrated Hajji Muwanga for being an authentic and patriotic investor who over the years has created jobs, boosted manufacturing and enlarged government revenue collection; Anite thanked Kampala’s wealthy tycoons such as Godfrey Kirumira, Tom Kitandwe, Namutebi and Henry Lubwama for sparing time to personally attend the Saturday grand opening despite their respective busy schedules.
Anite has her own hotel, which is the best of its kind in her home regional city of Arua, but she admitted that Badru Muwanga’s Bamus Sarovar Portico was way a much better facility whose standards ought to be emulated as opposed to being envied. Saying she likes the unity of purpose and solidarity the Bagagga kwagalana group members always exhibit by being there for each other, Anite called on fellow leaders to borrow a leaf and begin to physically being there for each other always.
In a bid to demonstrate the extent to which Hajji Badru Muwanga is an authentic credible manufacturer who is creating decent jobs for Uganda’s children, Anite revealed that she actually buys stuff from Luuka plastics which operates both at Kawempe and in the Namanve Industrial Park. She thanked Muwanga for selflessly employing thousands of Ugandans in his numerous businesses who he pays very well as part of his broader strategy to become a standard bearer when it comes to employers respecting and prioritizing staff welfare. She said she is proud of Badru Muwanga for many reasons including always acknowledging that staff and employees are simply the best asset any business can have.
The Minister also thanked the investor’s spouse who was present for being a supportive Hajjat-and asked her to stand up for recognition. She also saluted Muwanga for being a prudent borrower who properly uses the money she borrows from banks by expending it on intended purposes, which enables him to pay it back without having to default. She observed that such prudence financial management leads to credit worthiness which is good for business. Anite also thanked Muwanga for helping the President demonstrate and prove to Ugandans that it’s possible to thrive on honesty, hard work and succeed in creating wealth without having to go under the lake or even stealing public funds.
She predicted that Muwanga, who she thanked for being deliberate about diversifying investments, will always succeed in his business undertakings because all his ventures and business premises are synonymous with unrivalled customer care, cleanliness and a motivated workforce. She also made reference to the tasty and fresh food that is served as his newly opened Bamus Sarovar Portico hotel near Makerere University.
Anite, who started by having a guided tour of the gigantic hotel facility which lasted close to an hour, also observed that the beautiful and large enough hotel rooms yet the cost remains the most affordable for such a high class facility anywhere in Uganda, are all indicative of the fact that Muwanga is focussed on much more than just making quick money. She sarcastically demanded that Badru Muwanga considers increasing the rates payable per room per night because it’s simply not right for her hotel in Arua to be charging much more than Bamus Sarovar Portico which has so much physical proximity to Kampala’s Central Business District.
Like all the other speakers who spoke before her, Anite encouraged Ugandans to come and have a good time at Bamus Sarovar Portico Hotel, making it clear they won’t regret their time and money. She also stressed Twaria’s earlier call on government agencies to consider the newly-opened facility as one of Kampala’s best hotels that are suitable to host government conferences and international guests.
Several other speakers took note of the fact that Bamus Sarovar Portico will remain the most popular and attractive hotel facility to business travelers from regional countries like DR Congo, South Sudan, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania and others given its close proximity to downtown Kampala from where many such traveling business people buy stuff for taking back to their respective home countries for resale. (For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [WhatsApp line], 0779411734 & 041 4674611 or email us at mulengeranews@gmail.com). 
