In the 1990’s, he started off as a civil servant with gigantic ideas to change the face of Masaka.
Businessman Jamil Ssempijja, 58, is owner of Maple Leaf Hotel in Masaka city.
His father Hajj Badru Lukyamuzi was a trader and as hereditary would be, Ssempijja possessed those business traits too and in his early years, he opened up a small shop in Masaka Town. Not so long, he looked at the shop as a mere starting point as far as his business dreams were concerned.
He later ventured into distributing hospital items such as medical sundries in late 1990s.
“By nature I am a hands on man. I always love it when I wake up early in the morning and do something new with my hands,” starts Ssempijja as we traverse Maple Leaf Hotel which is now three years in operation and frequently occupied with clients.
Looking at a wholly tempered, insulating safety curtain wall and glass assembled hotel with in-built music system and ambience indoor lightening, it is hard to believe that Ssempijja, a soft-spoken man owns such a facility that has lived up to his dream.
But because he was once in construction, Ssempijja knows it very well that for such a structure to stand on its own all he needed was enough capital which he worked for as he explains.
“As for construction, I worked so hard to make it count. I enrolled for schools facilitation grant under Selco Enterprises and later I decided to venture in constructing schools within Masaka Town and that’s how I saved for this hotel,” Ssempijja shares beaming with a lot of confidence while pointing at Maple Leaf Hotel which he opened up earlier in November last year. The hotel which is worth 6bn today employs 27 workers.
Among the schools, Ssempijja constructed in order for him to collect enough capital include; Bwala primary school, Hill road primary school, Kiwala primary school and Butenga primary school.
“I kept on adding other projects such as distributing Pepsi products within Masaka but more importantly, I’ve learnt that to do any business you’ve to first fall in love with it,” he shares.
Ssempijja was born at Ninzi Village in Kasaali Sub-county, Kyotera District. He attended Kiyimba Primary School, Kirembwe Primary School, Kakoma Secondary School and Kampala High School before going to Nkumba University where he earned a Higher Diploma in Business Administration.
It was in 2003, when Ssempijja became the distributor of Pepsi products in Masaka and here he faced a lot of competition with Coca Cola but he kept the belief at his command because his major motive was to save each penny he could get.
“I always love competition but me I don’t compete with anyone. Every day I compete with myself and that’s why my hotel is surrounded with other hotels but we are making money,” he noted.
Ssempijja is one man who has juggled loads of businesses for him to make his hotel business dream count.
“While in this business I was able to secure a holiday package to United States, Thailand, Holland and Dubai but while there I got two thoughts; starting a school or a hotel since I had saved some money to start with,” he says.
“In 2003, Celtel (Currently Airtel) came in. I knew nothing about it but I went on to become its distributor and from there we managed to increase our capital because deeply in my heart I knew I had to own my business,” he shares.
By then, as a Celtel distributor it was very hard for Ssempijja to make shs3m per day because still there was stiff competition with MTN but with the help of engineer Polly Kiwanuka and Bernard Atukwase, Ssempijja kept on going.
“I felt the pressure back then because all I wanted was my personal business. I’ve always loved to own my businesses because you’re the boss of your own,” he says.
With the school idea still lingering in his notices, Ssempijja later resolved to let go of constructing the school after realizing the pressure that may occur and built Maple Leaf Hotel which today settles with 27 rooms.
According to him, its three conference rooms accommodate; 250, 150 and 40 people respectively depending on the sitting arrangements. They normally charge shs800, 000, shs400, 000 and shs300, 000 respectively.
“The problem with the school is that you face a lot of pressure from the parents, students and teachers themselves that’s why I went for a hotel instead,” he says.
Ssempijja narrates that Masaka Town has a number of hotels but their standards has always been lacking and when he went in Malaysia and visited the Twin Tower also the third tallest building in the world he was forced to replicate the idea. He says the whole structure was built by engineer Charles Ssejemba and Mbogo Kasibante made numerous designs of the hotel furniture.
“In Europe it is not about money. What counts for people are those things that satisfy them and a good building with fast-class services counts much which we also consider at the hotel,” Ssempijja who is running the hotel business with his son Moses Mutagubya who also doubles as the Airtel manager in Masaka said.
The strategic location of the place; Masaka – Kampala High way also was a driving factor that gave him a reason to believe.
“I bought this land in 2008 and initially there was a house for some Indians and eventually we started constructing the hotel,” he adds.
For the Maple Leaf Hotel to stand, Ssempijja had to toil for eight years ago in order to realize such a multi-billion project.
“I’ve felt a lot of pressure from the public because they wanted the hotel to open instantly. Many including my friends started ranting that if I don’t open they will open it by themselves,” said a laughter Ssempijja as he climbs the ladder to showcase some of the unique features inside the hotel rooms. These are classified into three segments; Executive, single and double rooms.
“The whole structure is unique in and outside the hotel. Many thought it was appealing to Kampala City standards yet I knew Masaka City could benefit a lot. Since My childhood I’ve never looked for money away from Masaka City,” he shared.
As for construction; most of the materials used was made by local labourers here and some people still don’t believe that,” he shares.
Ssempijja says he prefers local stuff but of a high class standared and when he tried to employ foreigners to make some furniture for the hotel, he was totally disappointed.
“I think it is always good to employ local people. That alone brings you closer to your targeted customers and I always prefer employing people within our community” added Ssempijja.
Why Maple Leaf?
It is an emblem of Canada with a hidden meaning and it fits directly to Ssempijja’s traits.
“It is a symbol of determination, change, unity and patience and if you don’t possess those four elements you can’t erect such a building,” he shares.
Challenges
Ssempijja says in the beginning, they faced a challenge of unstable electricity because they opened up without a stand by generator.
“Electricity is unpredictable so it puzzled me a lot and of course workers. Most of them were new in the system,” he recollects.
Moses Mutagubya- Overseer of Maple Leaf Hotel
Mr Ssempijja is my father but I consider him as a hardworking man. He is a good time manager who loves his work and sometimes I ask myself where he gets all this zeal to run a hotel and other businesses at a go.
So, far we have managed to host numerous people here including Rotarians and others who normally appreciate the exceptional service offered at the hotel.
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