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I want to spend time with grandchildren
Anatoli Kamugisha during the interview. Photo | Edgar R Batte
What you need to know:
- Working towards goal. He dreamt of retiring at 60 years but he has refocused and given himself five more years. Anatoli Kamugisha, 57, is an entrepreneur who wishes to retire happy. He talks to Edgar R Batte about his life.
- He is 57 years old and refocusing his plans to work until 60. He is in the process of handing over Akright to a successor, preferably someone young, in a partnership arrangement.
His dream was to have 12 Akright cities in Uganda by 2040. That was in 2006. Anatoli Kamugisha has not started one. “Maybe I was overambitious. I am running things out of utopia. No one has gone into real estate and not burnt their hands,” Kamugisha observes.
He is director of Akright Projects Limited. When he set out to start working, he had a structured plan. He wanted to be married by 30 and retire at 65.
“My plan was not to work for money but to have money working for me. One should have done things to bring in money. You become a donor. You give out the surplus through service for others,” he explains about his earlier ambitions.
Glitches and plan
Everything did not go according to plan.
“I am in court to recover my grabbed wealth and organising to service my debts to pay off liabilities. You cannot retire before paying debts. I would like to redeem or recover my stolen, lost and encumbered wealth. I am settling liabilities and debts that have been accrued over time,” he explains.
He is 57 years old and refocusing his plans to work until 60. He is in the process of handing over Akright to a successor, preferably someone young, in a partnership arrangement.
“By 65 years, I would like to spend time with my children and grandchildren and perhaps play golf. I would also like to build a charity foundation that helps the underprivileged, pass on knowledge to others. That is my dream,” he discloses.
Kamugisha believes a celebrity is supposed to have raised resources to help others, plant trees and build schools.
“At the moment, I cannot call myself a celebrity because I am not giving out. It is the kind of lifestyle I intend to live until God calls me.”
Priorities matter
How people package priorities is important. Kamugisha advises that you should prioritise seven things. Shelter should top the list and much as it is expensive, anyone is better off working towards achieving it.
He says food, clothing, medical care, education, security and matrimony are the other six.
“When you are growing older, you must start tackling the most expensive. Do not dress expensive, eat expensive and forget shelter. You can handle it bit by bit. In order of priority, handle education, health or medical care, then shelter, food, and clothing,” he says.
He says he first got married and reduced his expenditure.
“Your partner will bring resources and you save much. Then, battle with shelter. You can compromise on the rest because they vary, and are adjustable.”
Model
Kamugisha was born to Batirimayo Ruhigirwa in Ibanda- Mbarara on February 25, 1963. He describes his father as a man of strong faith and a dreamer.
“He instilled the same faith in me and I dreamt of building a city. My father studied up to Primary Six and was willing to support my dream to study and get empowered,” he says. His mother Tereza Ruhigirwa was a housewife and peasant.
He attended Rwomuhoro Primary School, Mbarara High School before joining Kyambogo Polytechnic where he enrolled for civil engineering. He dropped out in the first year because of the misfortune that befell his family.
“Our family was attacked and my father, our breadwinner, was shot in the head and leg. He was down for three years. I opted to look for a job to survive on,” he recalls.
Surviving
In search of a living, he focused on ideas of physics.
“I remembered that matter is anything that occupies space, has weight and cannot be destroyed or created. It only changes form; water into ice and ice into water. It was fundamental in terms of things.”
Then, electricity has protons that can be charged.
“It can attract electrons. Once you are charged, you can attract electrons. If you have a good idea, you can magnetise money in anyone’s pockets. Money is everywhere. If you have a protonic mindset, it can attract money. Then electricity can flow.”
Kamugisha set out to provide solutions to people. He would slash compounds, wash cars for relatives and friends as a source of livelihood. While helping others, ideas occurred to him.
In 1989, he started his first company, Kanoblic Group of companies to manufacture. It flopped.
“Banks never gave us money to construct. I tried to rise but it collapsed. I was glad to have got the experience and I realised that I needed to find focus, build the right concepts and find the right people to achieve the goals of the establishment.”
Bottomline, when you are planning for retirement, mind your priorities and the rest shall fall in place.
Advice
Tips
“How people package priorities is important. Anatoli Kamugisha, an entrepreneur, advises that you should prioritise seven things. Shelter should top the list and much as it is expensive, anyone is better off working towards achieving it.
He says food, clothing, medical care, education, security and matrimony are the other six.
“When you are growing older, you must start tackling the most expensive. Do not dress expensive, eat expensive and forget shelter,” he says.
