Of course, yes. They have all it takes to sit at the highest decision-making body.
Here is why.
Most women never run away from responsibilities. They make sure they finish whatever they start.
I have seen this from all the women in my life – starting with Mom, then my wife, my sisters, and colleagues at the place of work as well as my clients. And now my children. There is this special character of focused determination that is special in women.
While small boys, we lived with a single mother. She never gave upon us. She did all it took to keep us in school. The good news, if you performed well, the Church would pick the fees, and this was a great motivation for us to study. But she made sure we had something to eat. She did her best to get through – a restaurant in the village that paid peanuts in returns, but she never gave up. Then a small retail shop for soft drinks and the local brew – waragi, then selling produce. She did it all. The most memorable was the 40 kilometers trek from Munteme to Lake Albert to exchange maize floor for smoked fish, which she would sell at a small profit. A determined woman cannot easily be stopped.
Then my wife.
She is another one – strategic in outlook, great at reading situations and people and very determined. For long, we agreed on certain roles, which she has done religiously for as long as I can remember.
However, recently, she asked me to help her with one of her daily routine duties – waking up early to drop the children at school and picking them up at 4:30 pm. What a job.
First, I don’t know what is happening these days – the children are required to report to school too early. From where we live, to drop the children by 7:30 am, which is considered a late drop, I must wake up by 5 am sharp, else I will spend about 80 minutes on the way! Waking up at that time is not easy. It is even worse when you must do so for a year! Now just 20 days of doing this routine I feel already dizzy! Keep in mind I have not told you that my role is just to drop and pick. But for her, she also manages the home – preparing the kids for school, and then making sure meals and everything is fine!
I could go on and on.
My sisters are some of the most hard-working women I know of. Very determined. You know how tough it is to eke a living in Uganda. They are the backs that keep the family running.
My co-workers and clients. These women have an eye for details. As we say in investigations if you want that details that matter, have a woman investigator. Once they get on the case, they will dig deep until all the facts surface. The woman investigator at Summit Consulting will study the case, the suspects, the statements, the numbers, the links and everything in between. It does not matter how sophisticated the fraudsters are, once we debrief, they will see the missing pieces and put them together.
If the men support the women, both succeed. You cannot imagine how ugly, gloomy a workplace can be without a woman. At home, when my wife is not there, a big thing is missing. She has made me so much used to a great life that her home management skills are exceptional. As the Chairman of the home, I would never ask for any other chief executive officer.
In this 20th Century, women are the glue that makes the world move. The men cannot go far without them. Just like women may not go far without the men.
We all need each other. We are equals – a perfect combination. What women are not good at, men are? What men cannot do well; women are exceptional. That way, we need all of us at the high table.
Copyright Mustapha B Mugisa, 2020. All rights reserved.
