Our History

BEMUGA Timeline

BEMUGA Group has humble beginnings of a Customs Clearance house in the mid 90s. Founded in 1994 by Dr. Ben Mugasha, the Group first traded as Cargo Masters operating from downtown Kampala. This was founded purely a customs clearance and brokerage house that later evolved in the the present day BEMUGA Group.

As Cargo Masters, the company pioneered into the Mining Sector supporting clients who were exploring Gold mining in Karamoja District (North Eastern Uganda). This was our first encounter with the exploration and mining sector. Despite the shortcomings of the exploration projects, the company continued to serve other project oriented customers during this period. As a result, the company gained a strong reputation and understanding of the mining sector as well as Project / Contract Logistics. Some of the notable project clients then included:

  • Saracen Security - Guard services
  • Uganda Telecom Ltd - Communications
  • Sarajevo Construction - Infrastructure projects
  • Uganda Bata - Manufacturing and Trade
  • Branch Energy - Mining and Energy

From a basic customs clearance and brokerage house, the services rendered evolved to include:

  • Sea Freight and Airfreight services
  • Overland Freight Forwarding
  • Vessel and Aircraft Charters (Cargo and Personnel)
  • In-field logistics support.

In 1997, after a year of exploration, our mining clients were unsuccessful due to a number of limitation. However this did not deter their ambitions and armed with their experience in mining, some of the shareholders/directors ventured into oil and gas exploration in Uganda. This led to establishment of Heritage Oil and Gas in Uganda which then obtained some of the first modern day exploration licenses in Uganda. Given the good previous working relationship and already existing experience, the company opted for the same services from Cargo Masters

With the growing service scope and having realised the potential of Oil and Gas in Uganda, the founders saw it fit to remodel and re-brand. As a result, BEMUGA Forwarders Ltd was incorporated in 1999 and took over the operations of Cargo Masters. The service scope continued to grow well into the eventual Oil and Gas exploration phase in the early 2000s. BEMUGA has since served almost all the oil and gas IOCs in the country delivering turnkey solution and receiving some accolades of service over the years

Between 2012 and 2014, BEMUGA became an asset-based company acquiring various transport, lifting and construction equipment. This added both experience and challenges to BEMUGA's previous working business model. It also led to the birth of BEMUGA Heavy Equipment Ltd, the second company established under the Group.

In 2016, BEMUGA made a move to further strengthen its core services through more focused management while at the same time retaining a common identity. As a result, BEMUGA Group was formed with an addition of two specialized business units. Today, the Group constitutes of:

  1. BEMUGA Forwarders (BFL) - Offers 3PL and 4PL Logistics solutions
  2. BEMUGA Heavy Equipment (BHE) - Offers heavy machinery rental and hire services
  3. BEMUGA Transport Ltd (BTL) - Offers Transport management services and solutions
  4. BEMUGA Heavy Lift (BHL) - Offers specialized and professional lifting services