About MUSA BODY MACHINERY LTD
Musa Body Machinery (U) LTD is a Ugandan manufacturing and project engineering company with a regional outlook, specialising in innovative design, manufacturing and trade of quality machines and integrated systems to meet local challenges in the primary and secondary processing of agricultural produce , waste materials and other related industries.
We are proud of the reputation we have gained, for more than 60 years, of the quality of our innovative and reliable products and for the personal service that we give to all our customers varying in scale from individuals to large-scale industrial projects.
Musa Body Machinery brings together over 30 years experience in the machinery Industry. Our knowledge of the equipment and the parts that are needed to keep it all running gives us a distinct advantage over other suppliers in the region. During our years working in the industry, we have developed a network of business associates that allow us access many different options to meet your requirements.
Production Line
Musa Body Machinery (U) LTD are able to provide complete manufacturing plant solutions, including total planning, civil engineering, steel construction, storage system, feed processing machinery, intelligent packing, electrical control system. Musa Body Machinery (U) LTD has engaged in feed machinery for more than 40 years and thus has rich experience on feed machinery after repeated attempts and trials.
- Poultry, Fish & Livestock Feed
- Fruit & Vegetable Production Line
- Grain Processing Line
- Maize Mill Production Line
- Organic Fertilizer Line
- Silo Project
How We Work
The company’s purpose is ever so clear: innovation to meet local challenges. Our objective from the very outset was to develop innovative engineering solutions to meet the needs of farmers, agro industrialists and value-addition. The design ethics was that no machine should be more complicated than functionality necessary and that the machines, while being easy to repair, should be built to last for a generation.
Company History
The company’s founder, the late Wakibi Musa, 1928-2003, start- ed his working life as a carpenter and construction contractor. Through his prowess at innovation, he started a workshop in the 1940s (Musa Body Woodworks), thereafter, Musa Body Construc- tion Company and later in 1956, a metal fabrication workshop which culminated in the company’s first exhibition; a televised display of truck body building, agro-processing and value addition machines such as diesel engine-driven maize mills, manual groundnut sheller among others; at the first annual UMA (Uganda Manufacturers’ Asso- ciation) Trade Show in Lugogo, Kampala – Uganda in 1988.
Why the name Musabody?
Let us be clear on one thing, Musabody = Innovation. In the 1950s, there was a challenge, trucks were imported with only chassis frames with no body, so carpenters were tasked to mould strong frames. Mu- sa’s clientele, being largely cooperatives and individual farmers, tasked him for a solution because wooden frames had a very short life span because of the varied effects of our tropic weather that affected the state of wood. Musa Wakibi saw an opportunity to innovate durable and cost friendly steel bodies; and coupled with his consideration for the needs of the enduser, his steel bodies became popular and he was referred to various farmers as, ‘Musa owa body ze motoka’… literally meaning Musa who makes truck bodies. It was later popularised in its short form, Musa Body.
As a self-taught engineer, who by applying a fresh and often very simple approach to problem solving, was able to substantially improve many of the farm machines that he also encountered.
Musa Wakibi worked so hard to show a good exam- ple to the country by showcasing his simple solutions to local needs and this made the company’s name echo among many more people. This action made the company’s purpose ever so clear: innovation to meet local challenges. The company’s objective from the very outset was to develop innovative engi- neering solutions to meet the needs of farmers, agro industrialists and value-addition. The design ethos was that no machine should be more complicated than functionally necessary and that the machines, while being easy to repair should be built to last for a generation.
Sales took off rapidly and those early design concepts for maize hullers / shellers, gnut sheller / paste grind- ers (odi), coffee hullers and feed mills have evolved into the equivalent machines of today. These were regional solutions because in Uganda, then, each re- gion had its own unique cashcrop. The on-site outlet in Katwe, Kampala, became the test bed for all new machine products.
The opportunity to assist in the mechanisation of ag- riculture and value-addition elsewhere in the world was grasped with enthusiasm and an expert team was established, with the late Musa Wakibi himself travelling worldwide for inspiration. He quickly rec- ognised that agricultural traditions were dictated by culture, climate and economic factors that varied enormously. Machinery should be just as varied – to meet the actual requirements in a country or region. He set his design team some very diverse challeng- es, leading to the creation of a range of products of extraordinary strength in depth. This was the founda- tion to the company’s success in local and regional machinery trade.
From this backdrop a foray of rewards started to manifest his way. In 1994, President Museveni recom- mended him to Uganda Development Bank (UDB) to get a machinery grant to help improve the quality of the agro and value-addition machinery he was pro- ducing. He remained at the helm of the business right up until his death on March 19, 2003. Post humous- ly, he was given official recognition when he was awarded the Nalubale Medal by H.E. Y.K. Museveni.
Foundation (1940)
Our Father, Mr Musa Wakibi became self employed when none of us was born in 1940s, He said, ‘he was treated so bad when he was working for the Indians, that is why he decided to become self employed. He humbly started as a Carpenter buying slowly the tools until he got money and made his first workshop at Katwe near Sapoba known as (Katwe ku emu). That time the company was called Musa Body & Furniture Maker.
(1994) The Technical University
After receiving the machinery, he willed to formalise the operations of the training institute. He was ad- vised to register a University and so he called it Musa Body University of Technology. The Ministry of Edu- cation gave him a go ahead but with 2 main condi- tions – firstly, relocate the university to another area and secondly, to use a formal curriculum admitting only students who had sat for their A’level certifica- tion. The idea, though noble, took him away from his main goal of re-skilling the uneducated and unem- ployed youth of katwe and its neighbourhood, who were largely into crime, and he didn’t take it up. But up to this day, the offer from the Ministry still stands.
(2001) Musa Body Foundation
The foundation, a brain child of the founder was cre- ated to help street kids and orphans to get a formal education which in turn would help them access the technical university training. He contributed some of the profits from the sales of the agro and value-addi- tion machinery to build schools, mosques, a police post, a health facility and a market in his home town Kakiinzi, Luweero district. The founder registered Musa Body Foundation in 1999 and the torch is still being carried by members of his family.
(2016) Present Days
Because of the continued growth and diversity of products required by the region, Musa Body Machin- ery (U) LTD was registered in 2013. We have widened our product range from agro-processing and value addition to hotel and restaurant equipment, stainless steel fabrication, animal feeds, food processing, pack- aging and eco-friendly solution machinery. The trust our clients have in us has stood the test of time and won us even more clients individually and in Government institutions, cooperatives, NGOs beyond borders. With our vast experience in machinery, we have been privileged to offer employ- ment and wealth creation ideas – local and international; to some of our clients, in ways such as;
- Support for small firms with high growth potential
- Transfer of machinery technology
- Promoting machinery innovation
- Enhancing links between universities, research institutions and the business community, government institutions
- Industry cluster development
- Assessment of a company’s risk profile in production: This may include flexible lease terms, access to technology, financing, andtechnical assistance.
- Supplying customers machine operators and maintenance technicians (to our customers in Africa);
And to our team members, we provide a wonderful place and oppor- tunities to build a career. Our service delivery is augmented by bring- ing passion, pride of a long history and experience together.
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