Opio started his fabrication business with zero shillings

A fabricator by training and an artisan by birth, Opio gambled with machines while still young and two years after graduation from the Uganda Technical Institute Elgon in Mbale District, in 1996, he decided to try something that gives him satisfaction to-date.
Opio decided to relocate to Kampala from Paliisa to find employment the following year. He started work with the East African Aluminium Works (now Shumuk) before joining MC Industries in Katwe, Kampala
He was a quick learner and was in charge of several projects. But that was not fulfilling.
“I felt empty and always yearned for more. I sometimes felt limited in what I could do,” he recalls.
Despite the burning desire, he did not have money to start his own workshop. He later convinced his siblings to use one of the rooms at their family house in Paliisa Town, a gamble that paid off.
“I nearly got stuck. But I thought I was trained. How could I sit at home unable to provide for myself?” he wonders.
By this time, he was not sure of what to do. But by luck, Fellowship Primary School was opening and he got wind of their need for metallic beds for the boarding section.
He convinced the owner to give him the job, yet he barely had any equipment to execute the work.
“It was funny that I was asking for a job when I had neither money nor equipment. But when the proprietor agreed to my request of advancing money, we travelled to Kampala together and I bought a welding machine, hacksaw and materials for the beds. That is how my business started because the following day I was working on the beds,” Opio says.
He says this is a skill he has refined over time and feels all artisans can copy.
“Since that day, I believe one does not need money to start on things. Money is not all that you need. Many people have money and need someone to work for them on something. If you have a skill, exploit these people’s needs and provide what they need. I started without a coin in my pocket, but trust. People who have money may not easily trust you. So, you must be trustworthy,” he said.
Soon business was booming. He started getting orders from people around Pallisa, Mbale and Iganga after they realised he was skilled.
“Most people upcountry tend to trust someone they know has been in Kampala and that is how I got many orders then.”

Early scare

But after just four years, he run down the business and the workshop collapsed. It is a business mistake he regrets although he does not disclose it.
“I was used to having money on me yet instantly life became very miserable. But I refused to go back to being employed.”
Tired of wallowing in poverty, he returned to the city in 2002 to stay at his sister’s place in Banda, near Kyambogo University ---with 18 spanners in the toolbox – the only remnants of his collapsed business.
The future looked bleak but he resisted all temptations to seek employment in any workshop.
“I still knew I had the skill. While still at crossroads, I met a gentleman who needed a block-making machine. That was the rebirth of my career. I promised myself to treat it carefully,” he recalls.
Following a similar script, he asked for advance payment and since he had prior knowledge of making such machines at MC Industries, he received Shs3m deposit with open arms and his business revived in Kisenyi – a hub for blacksmiths and artisans in Kampala.
The total cost of the machine was Shs4m and whatever he saved afterwards is what he used to pay for rent. He also bought a grinder, welding machine and a handheld drilling machine to beef up the workshop.

Machine man

Born in June 1969, Opio began fabricating in 1994 and his company became fully operational after registering it in 2011. His clientele includes supplies to Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA), Ministry of Works, Spear Motors, other individual companies and persons. Such success is based on huge inspiration for good work.
“I am told that when I was young I liked being at building sites. Actually I lost my left thumbnail when I was five years at a site my uncle was working on a roofing job.”
He recalls his childhood illusion with machines by making toy cars from used wires.
“Nature was our playground then and I used to make toy cars for friends at a fee. I always wanted to be in charge, a character I carry with me even today,” he says.
When he went to St Peters SS in Tororo, he found a well-equipped workshop which was among his favourite places at school. After completing Senior Four, he carried his burning passion to join Tororo College before he joined Uganda Technical Institute Elgon for his certificate in engineering.
He drew all his inspiration from his father, who was a manager at the then Esso fuel station on Nagongera Road in Tororo.
It caught the family like a cold as two of his siblings, Abel Okanya and Eleazar Ekuram are treading a similar path. Okanya works with a telecommunications service provider in Jinja while Ekuram owns a workshop. His sons have a keen interest too but the youngest, Timothy Opio, who is in Senior Four. He is actually being prepared to take over from his father.

Inspiration
Today, Opio draws inspiration from making a complete masterpiece.
“When I make a machine and it works exactly like I wanted to, I feel so great. That feeling cannot be compared to anything,” he says.
His current portfolio includes manufacturing brick and block making machines and briquette making machines.
But his biggest income earner are agro processors especially feed mixers.
“Uganda is still an agro-economy and I get many orders that deal with poultry and farming equipment.”
Now, The Opios has been around for 23 years and employs four people yet his favourite activity is turning the lathe where pieces of metal are shaped.
For Opio, he is happy to be able to participate in his chosen but largely under looked profession.
Being surrounded by people whom he has helped fine-tune their skills after school, he knows he has been vital to the community.
“I didn’t grow up here — I grew up in Pallisa— but I ended up calling Buganda and especially Bweyogerere home, and this place is important to me,” he said.

Challenges

He faces the pains of fabricating with pride. “We struggle with old technology to bring out smart work. Every artisan is affected by this,” he says adding that the industry is not well supported by the financial sector.
“You can’t access loans in case of large orders. Most financial institutions hardly give us credit facilities since most of us use rented spaces. This limits our capacity to equip workshops.”
He is also fighting perception saying some Ugandans are yet to appreciate equipment made in Uganda always labelling it fake and preferring to import from China.
He asserts that many people continue to view artisans as failures, who take up the profession as a last resort yet he says nothing is as fulfilling as working on your dream job.

Advice

Opio tips aspiring fabricators to be passionate and patient. “If you focus on getting money from fabrication, you will not be a good fabricator. You need to do good work first to get money,” he said.