LESSONS FROM MUKWANO’S LIFE

Two weeks ago Arimali Karmali passed on. I never knew the man personally, but judging by the tributes to him, which continue to flow in, days after his death, he clearly was no mere mortal.

"Estimates of the wealth he controlled suggests he may have been a dollar billionaire. What was more striking was the testimonies of the people he had helped with scholarships or to set up their businesses or out of plain charity.

From my readings of the last few days this was what I was able to glean as business and life lessons from the man fondly known as Mukwano.

1.       Frugal with a purpose

I read somewhere that his wardrobe consisted of a handful of shirts and trousers. For a man so rich this is an interesting story in itself but it speaks to a deeper principle. There are only so many shirts you can wear or shoes you can lace up. Beyond the function of keeping you covered and presentable, clothes should really be logged in the consumption column of our lives.

"There are only two ways to spend money, either you consume it or invest it. What determines your eventual level of wealth or poverty is which way the balance of your expenditure falls. Clearly the old man, after more than a half century in business, was hardwired to invest more than consume and hence his spartan wardrobe.

The rest of us get sabotaged by the devil on our shoulders continually asking “What is the money for if not for eating?”

2.       Invest in networks

But what was more impressive about the man, were testimonies by the people from far and wide narrating how the man touched their lives – from businessmen to lawyers to former ministers, his tenants, his neighbours. It was amazing.

Wealthy men have died before in these parts I stand to be corrected, but I have never got the sense that they touched as many lives. Fair enough, maybe the people they helped didn’t want to speak out, so it is testament to Mukwano that his protégés and the beneficiaries of his largesse stand up to be counted.

Beyond that he clearly cultivated networks of partners that were not restricted to Uganda or even the region. Networks developed on trust -- deliberately, systematically and consistently cultivated, were key to keeping his business alive and thriving.

Our businessmen don’t seem to log trust in their asset columns and are ok with swindling their creditors, partners and clients at the drop a hat. It maybe explains why our businessmen rarely live beyond five years.

3.       Go into uncontested ground

It is clear that all through his business career Mukwano was a trailblazer. He led others followed. He was not corrupted with our copycat syndrome, where we go into businesses where other people are.

During the days of chaos and persistent shortages he was an importer, when things stabilized he shifted into manufacturing and then in his final years he resuscitated the tea sector in the Toro area. In between all that he manufactured plastic goods, bottled mineral water and built malls down town, pioneering a craze that is fast turning down turn Kampala into a concrete jungle from the dusty unpaved hovel that it was.

There are risks to this strategy. Being the first in a sector means you will have to pay for the lessons you would otherwise have learnt by following someone else. On the other hand if you can pull it off the rewards can be beyond your wildest dreams...

4.       Nothing is beneath you

Long before “Bottom of the pyramid” Mukwano was already there, servicing this sector through his soap, cooking oil, plastics and even mall developments. Maybe it was an easy decision to make, since in the 1980s not only were the wealth and income disparities non-existent, but the economy had ground to a halt to the point that most essential commodities were out of the reach of everybody. So going into bar soap and cooking oil manufacture was a no-brainer, and those be the gifts that keep giving.

"Unadulterated by elitist airs Mukwano saw where the need was and moved to fill it and everybody else be damned....

5.       Invest

It’s safe to say that Mukwano cut his teeth in the rough and tumble of the Idi Amin era, when shortages meant huge margins were to be had on the sale of products. He was not the only one enjoying these margins. But is one of a few, of the very many to come out of the era and thrive in subsequent years.

The difference between him and his failed contemporaries, is that he was not seduced by the urge to consume and live large. When everyone was eating their money as fast as they made it --  a symptom of the insecurity of the time, Mukwano saved and invested his surpluses – a lot in land,  to the point that people say he could be the biggest land lord in Kampala today....

It’s interesting isn’t it, that our richest individuals never accumulated land as a way to get rich. They got rich through trading and stored their wealth in land. We tend to invert the process.

Mukwano walked this earth for at least 80 years. The above do not even scratch the surface of the lessons to be learnt from the man. He was real life proof that hard work and prudent use of money can lead to financial success the kind of which we can’t even wrap our minds around.

In death his only crime was to leave us without an account of his life, but it is hard to begrudge him his peace.

RIP Mukwano.