Kampala Businessman Hamis Kiggundu Hosts Singer Akon for Eid Celebrations
City Tycoon Hamis Kiggundu alias Ham has during this year’s Eid El-Fitr hosted guests who included American singer, Damala Badara Akon Thiam aka Akon.
The singer, flanked by his family and Babs Hussein jetted into the country to celebrate Eid Day held on Monday this week.
From Entebbe, Akon and Hussein were driven to Ham’s lakeshore grand mansion in Kawuku-Ggaba, where the group celebrated Eid.
Akon and Hussein attended Eid prayers with Ham and his family, after which he treated them to an opulent dinner.
“Am very grateful, honored and humbled by my brothers Akon and Babs Hussein who flew all the way from the United States of America to Uganda simply to pray and celebrate Eid with me and my family….. Alhamudulillah….. for God and my country.” Ham said.
Prior to his latetst travel to Uganda to celebrate Eid with Ham, in April last year, Akon on his visit to Uganda was promised land by President Museveni to build ‘Akon’s futuristic’ City to which later President Museveni directed lands Minister Judith Nabakooba to identify land that Akon would put to use.
Putting the presidential directive into action, Uganda Land Commission (ULC) officials on January 7th, 2022, showed Lands Minister Judith Nabakooba the land proposed Akon for the much-anticipated project that is expected to kick off any time from now.
During the inspection of the land located in Mpunge sub country, Bulebi village in Mukono District where Akon’s project is to be set, Nabakooba noted that any city, whether tourism or satellite, is a development to the country and it comes with a lot of benefits like employment, road construction and infrastructural enhancement.
“Akon is seriously interested in investing in the country. His representatives have been calling me almost every month to ask for updates and see progress. If they had the land they would have started already. Since the president committed to giving him land and directed us to get it, we needed to see that the directive is fulfilled,” she said after inspecting the land allocated to Akon.
This is the second time the two business giants are meeting, the first time being in Dubai during the Expo that ended in March 2022.
Ham And Akon During Their Meeting In Dubai In March 2022
Akon announced last year that he is planning to build a second city in Africa, named Akon City, which will operate using his own cryptocurrency, Akoin.
The project follows one that he has been building in his native country, Senegal, over the last few years, at a cost of USD 6 billion (£4.3bn).
Akon City Uganda is also likely to employ a smart city approach and is expected to feature futuristic shopping malls, stadiums, and recreational facilities like its sister city some 3,000 miles away.
According to the Akon City website, the project seeks to address the need for vibrant new community development, with a vision to create a business district, residential districts, a high-rise education district, a healthcare district, a technology district, a media district, an entertainment district, and sports facilities with a recreational enclave for the surrounding area to address the market need for the development in Senegal.