Ugandans poor because they envy the rich – Hamis Kiggundu
Hamis Kiguundu.
Kampala- Kampala businessman Hamis Kiggundu has said majority of Ugandans are poor because they envy rich people in the county, and are fighting to bring them down.
Mr Kiggundu made the remarks while launching his book, Success and Failure Based on Reason and Reality, in Kampala yesterday.
“Many Ugandans hate successful people and I do not know why. Instead of approaching us on how we have become rich and successful, they will hate you passionately and fight to bring you down, which must come to an end if they are to develop individually and develop the country as a whole,” he said.
Mr Kiggundu also highlights the fear of investing as another stumbling block to wealth.
“Failures
are so afraid of risking the little they have [in the] hope [of] more
gain. They are so scared of making losses that they tightly hold [on to]
the little they have and eventually end up spending it on survival in
the long run. That is why the rich people have been using the poor man’s
money saved in the bank and investing it to grow big businesses,” Mr
Kiggundu added.
The book
The 16-chapter book also highlights the country’s education system as another factor that has barred majority of Ugandans, especially fresh graduates, from becoming rich.
“The outdated education the country is offering our students is useless to the extent [that] it is inconsistent with the prevailing challenges. …With the outdated education, you cannot expect our children to become [the] bright future of the nation. It is like sending a soldier to war with gun without bullets,” he said.
Employment should be temporary
Kiggundu also advises people to think beyond employment. “Salaries are limited to survival because they always equal to expenses. Even if I promoted you to a manager and doubled your salary from Shs1m to Shs2m, I would expect you to live up to your new status. You would have to move to a better neighbourhood, buy a car if you didn’t have one,” he said.
“Employment should be temporary to accumulate enough income to move into private business. Prices of things go up everyday but salaries don’t go up. A person should have a plan to get out employment. When you stay so long in employment, you get a dependency syndrome whereby your job becomes your father and your mother. By the age of 35, someone should have started his own business, towards success not merely survival. We desire to live to survive. You can comfortably live on beans and you won’t die, but it wouldn’t hurt to feed on meat too.”
Being poor, rich and wealthy
Kiggundu also delved into what he thinks is the difference between being poor, rich and wealthy.
“I can comfortably tell you at this point that I’m a rich man but I’m working towards being a wealthy man. A rich person is someone with a lot valuable possessions and assets just like I do, but we equally have a lot of liabilities. A wealthy person is one who has got all that I have but with no liability at all. If a rich person can remove liabilities from his assets, then he becomes a wealthy person.”
“Riches can be measured from the amount of assets you own, wealth is measured from time. How long can you survive without working? That’s the difference. Rich people create jobs, wealthy people create systems. Wealthy people deposit money in banks as fixed deposits for the rich to borrow and start business. Actually, to some extent the rich work for the wealthy, just like on the other side of the coin, poor people in large numbers because they are afraid to take risks save their money in banks in small quantities and the rich person borrows it in collective amounts to start employing them. Rich people in most cases use poor people’s money to start investment because they look at it as capital, well as the poor people look at it as savings,” he said.
“I’m look at becoming wealthy though at the moment I can comfortably say I am a rich man,” he said.
Kiggundu revealed that he is going to give away most of his books free of charge for people to gain knowledge. They will also be available in book stores around town and the proceeds will go to charity.
On his wealth
Mr Kiggundu also explained the
sources of his money; he has been attacked by the public several times,
with claims that powerful people have a hand in his success.
“My
father gave me some reasonable capital to start small, where I started
as a retailer and later as a wholesaler before upgrading to real estate.
I hear majority of you saying that my success is attributed to
government and politicians. That is wrong,” he explained.
He also cited dishonesty and inconsistency, among others, as problems.
He urged Ugandans to step out of their comfort zone, take risks of investing, plan and establish strategies that will see them become rich and contribute the tax base of their country.
Mr Kiggundu’s latest projects include the controversial demolishing of Nakivubo Stadium to pave way for redevelopment.
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