{UAH} I like this analysis..I hadn't looked at it in that way...

By Robert Shaka,

You can blame M7 for everything bad about Uganda all you want. But there are lessons from every situation. And from M7's character/personality traits you can draw lessons from this former warrior to define your own life trajectory. A majority of the people prefer being "free riders" on other people's dream caravan than forming their own.

In his youth M7 set his goal. Yes, in his youth. He successfully sold his ideas, utopian or not, which were bought unfiltered 90% by his peers and the population. He has used his organizational skills to deploy meager resources initially to achieve strategic objectives that deliver his personal goals 100%. His natural instinct and appetite for risks for 50 years have been commendable. Risk takers make things happen(good or bad).

0- He networked, sought cooperation, support and built coalitions around an IDEA with local agents of all walks of life, regional and international leaders.

1- Defeated governments through war

2- Defeated rebels, jailed, bribed or killed some of his opponents who stood in his way

3- Distabilized regional governments including blowing some out of the skies and overthrowing others

4- Dominated domestic opponents economically and militarily

5- Dominated the Uganda population economically and militarily to his personal benefit and his friends

And all these have happened in 50 years of his adult life. Now you can look at M7 in the prism of being President or as an ordinary person and draw all kinds of conclusions from his personality. My assessment of his character is purely from personal ambition and the ruthlessness with which he has been able to strategically sustain focus on his personal, not public, goals.

There is no doubt M7 has written history; among other Ugandans and that is what men and women do. You have to be driven by a higher goal or life purpose. The goal may be as UTOPIAN as ending poverty in Uganda by 2017. It may as utopian as making Uganda a middle income country by 2018. It may be as utopian as producing locally made cars by 2015. It may be as utopian as ushering in democracy in Uganda. Life is often a trial and error experiment of actions motivated by some higher purpose. You must believe in your own crazy idea for you to sell it to a whole lot of other crazies to follow you.

After 50 years, M7 is certainly exhausted both physically and mentally. I believe given his personal ambition he is disappointed he did not deliver the final MESSIANIC blow against pervasive poverty in Uganda as he had been impassioned to, during his youth before 1986. He believed in his ideals. He saw himself like Moses who would deliver Africa from the yoke of Neo-colonialism. And here we are.

He aimed for the moon and found himself stuck in the small galaxies on Nakasero Hill. This is what character is about. It does not have to be perfect. You don't have to achieve everything perfectly but your motivation for greatness must be the driving force to set goals no matter how ambitiously crazy and ambiguous.

Finally he faced his demons early. Without goals we live by accident.M7 set his life goals early while in school and sustained his pursuit over 50 years so should you. Most people get overwhelmed by initial "success" either as celebrities, enterprenuers, politician and crush in a very short time. M7 horned his political marketing skills selling his idea to the political market he understood very well from way back in school. Where the market was unwilling to buy his services he created conditions for the market to accept his services.

After 50 years, the political market has shifted demographically, the warrior is exhausted by competing demands on his mental physique and physical frame, access to alternative information has improved encumbering his monopoly, demands have changed, the world has changed and there are new market entrants. Ultimately, "great" men and women set goals early and pursue them until they can't no more.

If M7 had more years, I believe he would love to continue dominating by tweaking his ideas no matter how ambiguous they are today. Unfortunately, time is not always on our side so we must utilize it efficiently and effectively.

-------------------------------------

--

"War is nothing but a  continuation of political intercourse, with a mixture of other means. Man will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest." 

--
Disclaimer:Everyone posting to this Forum bears the sole responsibility for any legal consequences of his or her postings, and hence statements and facts must be presented responsibly. Your continued membership signifies that you agree to this disclaimer and pledge to abide by our Rules and Guidelines.To unsubscribe from this group, send email to: ugandans-at-heart+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Ugandans at Heart (UAH) Community" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to ugandans-at-heart+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/ugandans-at-heart/CAKh9Gt-pkoZhOUhvdTxFVuA6jnPRww1Bs4oUTZMzcTzj4GLeOQ%40mail.gmail.com.