Who is Hamis Kiggundu?: Flash Uganda Media looks at his biography, age, family, wife, tribe, relationship with Martha Ainomugisha, net worth, businesses, properties, Forbes, house, work and experience, house, Diamond Trust Bank fraud, and the CEO of the Ham Group of Companies.
Hamis Kiggundu widely known as Ham is a Ugandan businessman, real estate and property developer, investor, lawyer by profession, philanthropist and author.
He is the Chairman and Founder of the Ham Group of Companies, a real estate company based in Kampala, Uganda.
Kiggundu is the author of the well-known 2018 self-help book; Success and Failure based on Reason and Reality, which offers guidance on achieving financial success and the importance of having a purpose in life.
In addition to being a licensed attorney, Ham is also regarded as one of Uganda’s youngest millionaires, owning numerous properties throughout Kampala.
Net Worth
According to Forbes, Hamis Kiggundu has an estimated net worth of $870M as of March 2021.
Ham is the owner of the most costly house in Kampala, the Hamis Kiggundu mansion, which is worth an estimated 4.7 million dollars and is situated in Muyenga on the shores of Lake Victoria.
Early Life
Hamis Kiggundu was born in Masaka District, Central Region of Uganda, the current Kalungu District, Lukerere village on February 10, 1984.
He was born to Mr Haruna Segawa and Mrs Nakayiza Jalia in a family with extensive property investments in Kampala.
Ham was born and raised in an Islamic home.
Kiggundu learnt how to conduct business from his father who was a businessman in Kampala, dealing in textiles.
He used to assist his father in business transactions during school holidays and this grew his confidence and experience in the business sector.
Later, after school, his father gave him startup capital to begin his business venture. Kiggundu began small, locally dealing in merchandise from first-hand importers abroad and selling them at a profit.
Education Background
After attending primary schools in Masaka, Ham joined Kabojja International School in Kampala District for his high school education.
Thereafter, he joined Makerere University and graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Law.
He later joined the Law Development Centre (LDC) in Kampala graduating with a diploma in legal practice.
Education background summary
| Years | Institution | Status /Award |
| Kabojja International School | UCE & UACE | |
| Makerere University | Bachelor’s degree in Law | |
| Law Development Centre (LDC) | Diploma in Legal Practice |
Marriage / Relationship
Hamis Kiggundu is in a relationship with Martha Ainomugisha. Martha recently gave birth to twins for him.
He also has children from other women.
Career and Professional Work Experience
The Ham Group began operating as a clothing trading company in 2005.
With time as capital inflow accumulated, Kiggundu advanced to firsthand importers importing goods from China, Thailand, Dubai and Hongkong.
He became a distributor of commodities in Uganda, Sudan, DRC, Tanzania and Kenya.
As his company grew, he began purchasing and selling real estate. In 2009, he established Ham Enterprises (U) Ltd. and progressed to building and owning commercial buildings.
2010 saw Kiggundu begin construction of Ham Towers, his first commercial structure, in the Kampala neighbourhood of Makerere.
After learning from his previous project and mastering the commercial real estate trifles, Kiggundu was able to go a little faster, and in just 18 months, he had completed his second property, the Ham Shopping Mall.
Given his acceptable collateral, he was able to easily obtain more funding from the banks for new projects with the combined rental income from both buildings.
Hamis Kiggundu has handled various projects including Nakivubo Stadium redevelopment and upgrade, renamed Nakivubo Memorial Stadium with expanded sitting capacity from 30,000 to 35000.
This project was dedicated to him in 2015, by the president of the Republic of Uganda, Yoweri Kaguta Museveni. The multi-million dollar facility is funded by Hamis Kiggundu himself.
Investments
Hamis Kiggundu has various projects in the country that include; Ham Integrated Agro-Processing Industries an Agro-Processing plant, Ham Group of Companies, Ham Shopping Ground in downtown Kampala City, Ham Towers the first shopping mall he built, Real Estate where he’s constructing 500 gated luxury homes on a 200-acre piece of land, among others.
Kiggundu also owns a commercial property in the United Kingdom located at 375 Moston Lane Manchester M40 9NB trading as Ham International UK Ltd.
The other properties include a Logistics Company trading as Ham International Express Logistics LLC based in Euless, Texas having various trucks distributing logistics across America.
Additionally, he owns a multimedia platform company named Hamz Link Ltd in Edmonton Canada.
Through this link, Kiggundu runs an online learning platform, Hamz Campus, Hamz Wave, a Video Streaming App, and Hamz Line a social media platform.
Other projects include a charity organization named Ham Foundation that aims at social development.
Philanthropy Works
In April 2020 Hamis Kiggundu donated food relief to Uganda’s COVID-19 task force plus food supplies to over 100 Ugandan journalists through the Uganda Journalists Association (UJA), cash handouts to journalists for which he was criticized.
In July 2021, Kiggundu donated to the Uganda Government a total of Shs 530 Million to help in the purchase of COVID-19 vaccine doses for Ugandans and additionally called upon other able Ugandans and corporate entities to join him in saving lives as a way of giving back to the Ugandan Community.
Achievements and Awards
Hamis Kiggundu is also a Ugandan author. He has written motivational books: Success and Failure Based on Reality and Reason as the World’s masterpiece.
In 2018, Hamis Kiggundu was awarded as a way of acknowledging his book titled: Success and Failure Based on Reason and Reality.
At a Kampala event organized by the Book Forum of Uganda, it received a nomination for best book of the year under the “Business Motivation” category.
Hamis won the August 2023 Pan African Pyramid Global Award in the African Renaissance and Iconic Development Entrepreneur Award categories.
Inspired by the architecture of the White House, Kiggundu built a duplicate of the White House in Entebbe, which is home to the headquarters of Ham Agro Processing Industries.
Controversies
In February 2020, Hamis Kiggundu dragged Diamond Trust Bank to court over fraud issues. He allegedly accused the bank of fraud of over 30 million USD (ugx34.29bn) and 23.4 million USD, under what he termed “unclear debits” in 10 years.
In October 2020, Kiggundu won the case and Diamond Trust Bank was instructed to refund all the money Kiggundu lost on his account amounting to 34.29 billion including 8% interest legal costs the High Court in Kampala.
The court additionally ordered the bank to unconditionally release/discharge all mortgages allegedly created over all of Kiggundu’s properties and all corporate and personal guarantees issued by Kiggundu.
In another case, Kiggundu and the Buganda Kingdom are currently pulling ropes with the Buganda Kingdom over Kigo Land.
Kiggundu is allegedly accused of grabbing land in Kigo measuring 140 acres owned by the Buganda Kingdom.
However, according to Kiggundu, his accusers are thieves who are using the Kabaka name to steal from ordinary men and women.
