Personality: Valuation Surveyor Edward Mungati
Edward Seth Mungati is a valuation surveyor who started out as a graduate trainee valuer in London County Council, UK. Born in 1937 in Mbale Uganda, he worked through the ranks, from assistant valuer in the Ministry of Lands and Surveys all the way to senior valuer, deputy chief government valuer, chief government valuer, deputy commissioner of the then Lands and Surveyors department, to deputy minister in the Ministry of Housing and Works when finally in 1981 he left and started out on his own with East African Consulting Surveyors and Valuers where he is currently the managing director.
The valuation surveyor is armed with an advanced level general education and first examinations of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, from the University of Nairobi, Kenya in 1960.In 1965 he then did his final examinations of Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Equivalent to MPhil / Post Graduate Advanced Diploma course in Land Management), from the College of Estate Management in London.
East African Consulting Surveyors and Valuers 
The company takes its services nearer to the people resulting into the establishment of branch offices in regional centers including Mbale, Gulu, Masaka and Arua amongst others, which offices, he monitors. Mr Mungati has worked in several countries including UK, USA, Egypt, India, Germany, Malaysia, Tanzania, Kenya and Congo amongst others, especially in the establishment and management of Uganda embassy premises and for other government corporations including Coffee Marketing Board in their investments outside Uganda.
The East African Consulting Surveyors and Valuers has handled many big jobs including the expropriation, acquisition of land and other properties for the widening of several roads including Busunju,Kiboga,Hoima,Packwach,Nebbi and Arua; Fort portal-Kasese; Soroti-Lira; Kampala-Gayaza-Zirobwe. Recently the firm valued all the properties of National Housing and Construction Corporation including Crested Towers. They are also the preferred retained valuers for all the banks in Uganda. The valuation surveyor is a professional fellow of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), Institution of Surveyors of Uganda (ISU) and Associate Member, Rating and Valuation Association, UK (RVA),post chairman of the Institution of Surveyors of Uganda, current member University Council, Uganda Christian University, current chairman Board of Planning, Uganda Christian University and director Uganda Christian University Holdings Company, canon in the Church of Uganda, chairman House of Laity, Mbale Diocese. Other past positions include board member National Housing and Construction Corporation, chairman Bible Society of Uganda, past vice president Bible Society of Uganda, past chairman House of Laity Province of the Church of Uganda among others..
Truss Bridge.
A truss bridge composed of connected elements (typically straight) which may be stressed from tension, compression, or sometimes both in response to dynamic loads. A truss bridge is economical to construct owing to its efficient use of materials.
The nature of a truss allows for an analysis of the structure by using a few assumptions and application of Newton's laws of motion according to a branch of physics known as statics. For purposes of analysis, truss is assumed to be pin jointed where the straight components meet. This assumption means that elements of the truss (chords, verticals and diagonals) only act in tension or compression.
A surveyor usually carries out a valuation survey for the lender to assess whether the proposed loan is less than the value of the house. The surveyor will know firstly what the proposed price of the house is, and secondly, the size of your requested mortgage. Expect the valuation price to be lower than the asking price - the surveyor is always pessimistic and cautious.
Significant Projects.
Gayaza Zirobwe Project.
This is part of the northern by-pass route. Different valuers were taken on to assess and compile lists of all affected people in the areas where the road was to run. EACSV undertook both Gayaza- Zirobwe route and Gayaza Kampala. The whole stretch from Kampala to Zirobwe is approximately 44km long.
Nile Bridge Project
An alternative route/bridge was constructed in Jinja to reduce on the heavy loads that were being carried by the current single route over the Nile. EACSV is doing compensation assessment for the affected persons on the route.
National Housing and Construction Corporation
EASCV carried out an assets valuation for NHCC (National Housing and Construction Corporation) and that is just one of their many properties.
Challenges faced in the industry;
The industry lacked professional trained personnel as there were no local training facilities in Uganda until about four years ago when both Makerere and Kyambogo universities started the courses in land economics and building science. The work has therefore been tremendous and overwhelming for the few foreign trained personnel. The local market does not fully understand the services provided by the industry and therefore usually only seek the services when something has gone wrong, such as buying or paying too much for a property compared to a mortgage valuation prepared by a valuer. Services of construction/project managers are not fully utilised resulting into buildings on construction sites collapsing as contractors tend to cheat on correct materials and ratios of mixtures, especially in concrete work.
View and opinion on pertinent issues, including the prevailing market conditions and professionalism;
The value of prime land for development especially in the popular areas of Nakasero, Kololo, Ntinda, Bugolobi coupled with the high cost of building materials, make it difficult to provide affordable housing units for most young working Ugandans whose earnings do not correspond to the rising inflation and cost of the units. Mortgage finance to assist young working class to acquire reasonable accommodation or business in the commercial banks is expensive because of very high interest rates and too short a period to repay resulting into exorbitant monthly installments or repayments. This causes shortage of affordable housing in the market.
There is an unacceptable margin of levels of values returned between different valuers on the same property which the valuation surveyor thinks is caused by lack of data banks, which would store the relevant comparables. There are also several areas where nothing has ever been sold and therefore no comparable to go by and valuers work is a shot in the dark, which would not give the best results. Sometimes valuers resort to computations on the basis of the cost of construction. This also does not give the best results because there is no published price guide and in any case, cost is not necessarily market value. This is exacerbated in Uganda, especially in the rural areas, because of location and tribal norms which tend to distort open market value.
It is beginning to emerge that some credit officers in some banks, for reasons known to them, attempt to influence valuers to return mortgage value on a property higher than actual market value. The professional valuers should stand their ground despite the risk to lose business with that bank.
Property brokers and agents sometimes inflate market prices by unfairly competing for higher commissions and in some cases keep back much more than their fair commission. This trend is distorting the industry. This should be checked as valuers will never know the correct prices for comparables in their data bank.
Advise to budding professionals and practitioners in the industry ….
The technical professionals in the building industry should agree to work together as it was before 1985 when the society of architects, the professional engineers, the Institute of Surveyors and Association of Uganda, Association of tTechnical Professions to which Mr Mungati was privileged to work as its president for several years. This will curb the completion of inferior buildings and worse still collapsing buildings.
Conclusion
The valuer is personally worried about the increasing corruption in every sector in Uganda including the building industry where a contractor is only interested in maximising his profits at the expense of the quality of the building. Building engineers prefer a bribe to enforcing the building regulations and standards. Architects exchange a bribe for good design, planner will rather have a bribe instead of some necessarily public spaces and green areas in congested built up environments including drainages etc. Physical planning, designation, zoning and planning control should be emphasised in all areas especially urban centers in the new town councils and municipalities to the creation of slums country wide.
