I Like Rich People

 I like to spend time with rich people; those who have earned their income honestly. They are usually generous and good listeners. Some have 9am to 5pm jobs, while others have businesses.

By the way, you need to stop listening to people who tell you to quit your job. Do so when you have a plan, or at least when you deeply feel that it is time to do leave. 

The ones I enjoy time with most are those who do not criticize other people’s woes.

For example, scoffing at others who  have faced financial struggles. The faux rich whom I detest are those type, who speak like this.

‘Can you imagine, so and so came to me for a loan. Imagine that!'

These people are defined by their riches and therefore are rather fickle and insecure.

Rich people on the whole, are important in our lives. They make our world a better place because many are able to support their families, communities and they also employ others. They are also able to live a life that is admirable.

Furthermore, I enjoy the company of wealthy people. I like the way wealthy people are usually relaxed.

Wealthy people make the world a better place, especially those who have worked honestly and are ready to extend their favour to others.

Yesterday, 20 February, I received a copy of ‘The Billionaire’s Disease,’ a novel written by Godfrey Kalimugogo, published in 2014. It was his fifteenth novel before his death. Mr. Kalimugogo was also a father to my friend, Pearl.

In this book, Anthony Kagoro has been listed as Uganda’s latest billionaire, a status which drives him into a complex and bizarre state of  paranoia and irreversible mental torture. 

His billionaire status leads him to become trapped in his extreme state of megalanomania, that he imagines himself a target for assassins, as a result purchasing armoured vehicles and hiring expensive security guards for himself and his wife and son. 

Such is his extremity that his wife and son escape from Anthony’s state of delusion, where they have been imprisoned by his absurdities.

The end of the novel is quite revealing of how the inability to control oneself, leads to self-destruction.

The fictional character of Anthony Kagoro reminds me of people who are unable to ride on a safe boda (motor bike used as a taxi), or enter a matatu (passenger taxi for 14 people) , because they are afraid that their self-image will crumble.

There was a time when I was such a professional boda rider that I would even apply lipstick while riding. Not anymore. I matured. (smile). I do know that when I drive a Bentley or disembark from a boda boda, my confidence and honour remain unchanged. 

I will always recommend that for people to receive the beauty of a diverse living, that they relocate to another country or city, even for a month, or start a side venture.

Copies of this book should become available in online and physical bookstores in Kampala.

Beverley Nambozo Nsengiyunva

Kampala