By Mulengera Reporters At the just-ended Kyankwanzi retreat for the 12th Parliament MPs who subscribe to the ruling NRM, inspirational speaker Dr. Aisha Ruth Kasolo was among the expert speakers who the organizers brought to induct the new legislators. Her messaging was framed to captivate MPs to work not only towards individual political success in the next five years but also the economic success and transformation of the people and communities they represent. In a session that was chaired by Hon Fred Omach, Aisha challenged MPs to be self-driven and deliberately work towards emulating their counterparts in South Africa and neighbouring Kenya too where politicians also distinguish themselves as successful in the business arena too. She gave the example of the late Raila Odinga who distinguished himself as a leading politician in Kenya but was also at the same time successful at business ventures. She referred to his being the region’s biggest dealer of gas cylinders, a gig out of which he made colossal sums of money and thereby earning himself a slot on the list of Kenya’s billionaires. Aisha made it clear that she wasn’t calling on the new MPs to leverage their newly earned positions of power to cut deals in search for quick riches. She enumerated politicians in Uganda who have done so well in the political spheres while at the same time distinguishing themselves as excellent champions of wealth creation and socio-economic transformation in their respective communities. Many of them are model farmers in their respective communities, which makes them tick beyond mere winning of elections. She gave the example of her husband Haruna Kasolo whose economic wellbeing and that of his entire family derives from his hard work manifested in the fact that he is currently one of the largest and most successful coffee farmers in Buganda. She explained to the MPs how Kasolo, who was in the audience busy smiling with blessedness, operates coffee plantations seated on more than 300 acres of land back home in Kyotera. From casual quick calculations, the MPs at the retreat came to the conclusion that Aisha’s spouse earns not less than Shs2.5bn from the coffee-related activities alone annually. She observed that leading by example makes it easy for Kasolo to mobilize and instigate people in his constituency to begin having a more positive attitude towards farming because they are able to see the benefits he personally has reaped from the same. “Otherwise, there is no way you are going to tell and inspire your people to go into farming when you yourself aren’t involved in it. You won’t inspire anyone to embrace the President’s socio-economic transformation message and agenda when all you are known for is being the area MP.” It was a lively session as MPs reflected and liked the simplicity of message that Dr. Aisha was giving to them.Not yet done, Aisha also challenged MPs to lead by example by being equipped with all the primary information and statistics about their districts and constituencies. “Make sure you have done the profiling to know what works in your area. You must know the names of all the administrative units in your constituency plus their strengths or challenges and also be equipped with the latest statistics. Get to know private people doing big things in your area and the projects that require government intervention to be boosted. Know the private sector leaders in your area and seek synergy with them as opposed to becoming afraid of them. There is no way you are going to effectively lobby the President to support certain interventions and prioritize your area when you don’t have the latest statistics on basic things in your constituency. How are you going to go to the Ministries and lobby successfully when you don’t know the latest statistics on service delivery in your constituency?” This provoked MPs into self-reflection and deep thought. She also challenged them to read widely and deliberately learn knew things whenever they travel abroad to do Parliamentary work. This subsequently enriches their submissions during meetings at Parliament and even back home in their respective constituencies. Dr. Aisha went on to reference onto other elected leaders both in government and NRM caucus who have been able to leverage their positions to bring transformation and attitude change among people in their respective areas. She enumerated these to include deputy Speaker Thomas Tayebwa whose exemplary leadership she asserted had accelerated transformation in Greater Bushenyi. She also spoke about Eng Hillary Onek who business acumen must be a source of inspiration for a lot of ordinary people back home in Acholi sub region where he hails from. She referred to the thriving recreation business he runs in Gulu City. She also hailed the delegation from Yumbe district comprising of Hon Huda Oleru and MP Alioni Yorke Odria. She praised these two for keenly being interested and closely working with the management at the GoU’s mango juice processing factory, a project whose promotion she personally has been involved into in their home district of Yumbe, at the instigation of the President. Dr. Aisha also called on MPs to deliberately identify high-impact sectors and government interventions and rally their people to demand collective inclusion in them, for the benefit of transformation of their respective areas. She concluded by asserting that MPs will aid the realization of the President’s socio-economic transformation agenda once they master some of the things she was addressing them about, as opposed to impeding the same. (For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [WhatsApp line], 0779411734 & 041 4674611 or email us at mulengeranews@gmail.com).