Mr. Nathan Ggoobi, and my young brother Ssemugooma, the man bwetwazilunda in the name of the gods of Kifuuta, Kyotera, Buddu, this reorganization can turn our economy. Not handouts.
Why is our economy not spreading? Why are we still a peasantry economy after 64 years of independence? Why does 1% own the sugar, the oil, the factories, and 99% own only a boda boda that will be impounded tomorrow after it has hit you in an accident, your legs are cut off, you stay in hospital for 6 months, and the land is gone?
You have all sold the land in Ninzi, Kalisizo, to come and buy a Boda Boda which is impounded after you cause an accident, your legs are cut off, you stay in hospital for 6 months, and the land is gone.
Because the textbook we read was written to keep us scattered.
Look at the facts. 70% of wealth in the USA, India, and England is not first-generation wealth. It is second-, third-, or fourth-generation wealth. One name, 100 years.
This is the science they hid from us: Wealth does not grow by starting. Wealth grows by staying.
In India, where I have been and studied them, three generations sleep in ONE apartment in Mumbai! Not because they have no land. India is huge. But they know the formula: Proximity is Profit. Father, son, and grandson work in the SAME shop. Mistakes are corrected, not repeated. Capital is concentrated, not divided. Trust is free, not hired.
But all of us have left Kifuuta, Kyotera, Buddu, to Kampala. One square mile in the village is divided into subsistence farming instead of keeping it as one family. Farm as one family, make banana plantation, make Tonto to wine, come down town and open up a winery shop to sell what is brought from Buddu. That is value addition.
In China, the Lee Kum Kee family has made oyster sauce for 136 YEARS. One family, one sauce, now in 100 countries.
In Europe: In France, the Peugeot family has made cars for 214 YEARS. The Michelin family has made tyres for 136 years. In Germany, the Brenninkmeijer family has owned C&A for 184 years.
They have one rule: You don't inherit money. You inherit a ROLE.
Now look at Uganda's living proof:
The Madhvani family: 86 years in sugar. Muljibhai started in Jinja in the 1930s. Today, his great-grandchildren still own Kakira. Why? No son can sell Kakira to build his own small shop. Family Trust.
The Mehta family: 80+ years in Lugazi. Same sugar, same family, same compound.
Mukwano: 3 generations. Started by small trading, now cooking oil, soap, plastics. One family eating together, marrying strategically, keeping capital in one pot.
Roko Construction: 56 years. Family owned since 1969. Still building Uganda because they never scattered.
And look near State House: The Museveni family. Close to 60 years, they have kept together as a unit. General Museveni, General Salim Saleh, General Muhoozi, Officer Ruhamya. They eat together, they plan together, they dress in progress together. They kept the dream intact. That is what a Family Trust looks like in power. Why can't we copy it in business?
Did you know this? Our grandfathers were Professors of Generational Wealth.
One compound, one business, one fire. Massive!
Then the colonial seed germinated in us.
The lie: "Be your own man. Start your own thing. One man, one home." is killing everything.
For the last 30 years, no project has taken root again. We cut the big tree for firewood.
That is the story of Uganda!
Zzimwe built, sons scattered. Livingstone Naidoo built, Kojjas scattered.
One family - four homes. Father in Kifuuta, son in Masajja, another in Kampala. Four rents, four kitchens, four charcoal stoves, four boda loans. We spread the luck until nothing remains.
And now government brings PDM. Good money. But with the same scattered brain!
Father gets 1M for a pig - pig dies.
Son gets 1M for boda - boda is impounded.
Grandson gets 1M - eats it in betting.
Three monies, zero wealth. We are killing ourselves while eating! PDM for eating, not PDM for building.
ECONOMISTS, HERE IS YOUR NEW ASSIGNMENT. Implement THIS:
No Economies of Scale: 1M cannot buy a milk cooler. But Father + Son + Grandson = 3M + 3M from two other families = 9M. That 9M IS a milk cooler. That 9M IS Living Bread revived. Alone, you buy a pig. Together, you buy a factory.
High Transaction Cost: When you scatter, you pay rent 4 times, transport 4 times, you hire a stranger you cannot trust. When you stay together, trust is free. My Jjaajja didn't need a CCTV; he had his Bazukulu.
Lost Tacit Knowledge: In India, grandson learns the sugar secret at 12 years just by sleeping in the shop. When you send Muzukulu away from Jjaajja, that 50 years of baking knowledge dies. Because we have sent our children to Europe studying textbook economics of being employed, for holiday you give them iPads to watch social media, the killer mind pill. That is why our businesses die at funerals.
THE REORGANIZATION-WAKE UP!
Return to the Compound Economy. This is not backward. This is Fortune 500. Rebuild the family compound as an Economic Unit. One title, many hands. That's why Ankole long horns have stayed for generations. We didn't cut coffee. Jjaajja Muguluma's coffee is still picked by Romeo Kasekende - a 4th generation! If we worked as a unit, by now we would be having a coffee processor and making instant coffee.
From PDM for Eating to PDM for Building. I beg government: Don't give PDM to individuals. Give PDM to FAMILIES as a Family Trust. Father + Son + Grandson must co-sign ONE business plan. 3 families join, 9M becomes 27M. That never fails. That is how Madhvani started.
Stop Starting, Start Expanding. Stop the lie "Start your own business." The rich law: "Expand your father's business." It is 10 times cheaper to make one bakery deliver to Jinja than to start four small bakeries that die.
Write the Family Constitution. Who keeps the land title? Who is Production? Who is Sales? Who is Guard? Like Jjaajja did. Like Rockefeller did. Eldest keeps the fire. Youngest fetches firewood. Roles stop fights.
Brothers and sisters of Buddu, wealth is not scattered seeds thrown by wind. Wealth is ONE MANGO TREE watered by grandfather, pruned by father, harvested by grandson for 100 years.
My family had the tree. We cut it.
India kept the tree. China kept the tree. Madhvani kept the tree. Museveni kept the tree.
Until we break this rope of "One Man, One Home", until we return to digging together, harvesting together, selling together, foreigners will continue to own shops in our own villages, and our children will continue to be tenants in our own land.
In Kifuuta, the Oracles say: WAKE UP! You textbook economists, think outside the box; if not so, you will keep listening to Papa Moi Afrigo Band song, Olumbe Lw'obwavu.
