Lt Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba, a Rolling Train to Success

By Jonah Ruhima

All of us are products of a fabulous competition to select the unique particular genetics and chromosomes to produce the winning design, you. Success is not you being better than me or vice versa. Success means having a better tomorrow than today. Many people have convinced us that our tracks to success lead nowhere, but we have fought to disapprove of many of them.

While appearing at the 1991 world championships of public speaking, Dave Ross told a story about his old friend Mr. Brown, who was an excellent vocational counselor who helped many students choose the right courses and he could help them get the right classes and good training programs.

But when students approached him and said they wanted to be professional footballers, basketball players, etc., he would give them what he used to call a "reality check." He would ask them to go into the community and get five people who are earning a living from that specific activity. Few would come back.

Through this, Mr. Brown taught those students to fail before they even entered the arena, and more importantly, they never learnt that you can succeed by not winning but by giving it your all. This is the measure of success. I'm now wondering what Mr. Brown could have said to an MDD (Music, Dance, and Drama) graduate, a former drug addict if he had gone to him and told him how he wanted to be President despite failing to deliver as an MP or even articulate basic issues in our society.

Thomas Edison failed more than 10,000 times before he invented the light bulb. Can you imagine failing at something 10,000 times? Instead of quitting, however, Edison tried and tried again until he achieved success. Stephen King's first novel, Carrie, was rejected by thirty different publishers. He was upset that he had thrown the novel in the trash, until his wife later fished it out and encouraged him to finish it. King's books have now sold over 350 million copies, and Carrie has become a classic novel with many films and TV adaptations to its name.

Many historians have written about Britain during World War 2 that Britain had no chance against the massive Nazi war machine, but Britain had Winston Churchill, a courageous and determined leader who inspired that nation to overcome the overwhelming Nazis. The following speech by Sir Churchill, delivered several times, sums that attitude up when he says, "Never Give Up, Never Give Up, Never, Never, Never Give Up." Those are the words of someone who knows that success is a birthright.

Born in exile in times of political turmoil, having on several occasions narrowly survived death and living in constant fear for his life as a kid, Lt Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba's life started with serious challenges and obstacles. Later, after school, he joined the military, a career that has put him under constant criticism and life-threatening challenges. But as a fighter determined to succeed, Gen MK has kept the momentum, moving forward, winning several wars on different battlefields, and now we can see the light. Some may attribute his success to luck.

Juho Cortezàr once said, when asked about luck, "but of course, how else would you accommodate the success of people you don't like?"

Just like how the NRA, with only 27 guns, started a liberation struggle against a Junta with hundreds of thousands of soldiers and strong weapons, just like how Churchill defeated the overwhelming power of the Nazis, just like how communist Vietnam defeated America. It was not just luck, it was courage. The courage to continue when good sense tells you you can't. It's this extraordinary courage and bravery that I see in Gen MK and that keeps him moving despite all the obstacles in his life.

At Gen MK's birthday dinner, Presidents Yoweri Museveni and Paul Kagame, some military commanders, and Gen MK's friends described Gen MK as a man of great courage, determination, and passion.

The president advised parents to allow their children to explore their passions because some of these passions would be a blessing. The Army commanders and the President said the country has benefited a lot from Gen MK's passionate leadership in the Army, citing an example of him successfully recruiting university graduates who went on to build the Army and his success in building a strong elite force under the UPDF (SFC).

The president appreciated Gen. MK for being a good leader with a noble character who has been against corruption and mediocre work in the Army. As a country, we have benefited from Gen MK's bravery, courage, and passion to serve, and we can all contribute to the building of a better Uganda together with him.

In conclusion, I would like to thank Gen MK for his great courage, determination, and passion to serve our great nation and humbly request that he keep his focus on his good agenda. He shouldn't be distracted by naysayers.

Many of us patriots believe in him and support him. This has been evident in the recent mass celebrations of his birthday. To all Ugandans, we can all contribute to the development and progress of our country without necessarily undermining and criticising the contributions of others.

The train is moving through the forests, valleys, and congested cities, focused on its track directly to success.