I draw inspiration from Nigerian tycoon and my late father

Edwin Musiime is today known in the real estate industry in Uganda. This is because of his pioneering programme on NTV Uganda, the property show.
Born in 1982 in a family of seven to Mr and Ms Njuyarwo, he has grown up to appreciate some of the values imparted to him by his father at a tender age.

Today he is the sole proprietor and CEO of Crest Group Limited, a company he founded years back as a young man trying to make a living. Before this, however, he was a media personality with both Uganda Broadcasting Cooperation [UBC] and Daily Monitor.
“Working in the media, I got to meet quite a number of influential people in all aspects of life in Uganda. Some of these, like Roland Ssebuffu, also a media person at UBC, played a vital role in my life,” he says.

Star of my life
Musiime draws inspiration from two people he considers to be of great value when it comes to shaping the kind of person he is today.
“My father and African entrepreneur Tony Elumelu are my role models. When I was just three years old, I heard my father say something to one of the visitors in the compound that changed my life,” he says.
“I heard my father say that he knew his son [meaning me] would be successful in future. This is something that really changed how I thought of myself. From then on, I started working towards being successful.”

Besides that, Musiime also says his father, Charles Njuyaru [who was a district education officer then] had a great a character, something that prompted him to learn something from him.
“I admired my father’s values and beliefs. He was a religious man who believed that if one puts focus to what they want to achieve and also put God into their lives then it is easy for them to reach their desired destination,” he says.
“Some of the things I did to see how he conducted himself while at work was going with him to office. At a young age, he was already exposing me to the work life, something I still appreciate him for having done to date.”

Musiime also says Tony Elumelu, an African entrepreneur who he met in 2013, is another person he considers to be his role model.
“I first met Tony Elumelu in Nairobi during a conference in 2013. Being a highly successful businessman on the continent, I asked if he could mentor me into being a respected and successful business just like him. This is something he agreed upon and thereafter we have been friends,” he says.
“What I found unique about him as a businessman is the fact that he has been able to embrace social entrepreneurship across the continent. This is something that really drew me close to him since I had always had a goal of going into entrepreneurship. Besides that, he is also a person of God.”

Growing up without a father
In 1989, at just seven years old, Musiime lost his father. But despite losing his father at such as tender age, Musiime’s dreams and aspirations did not go with him.
“At the time of my father’s death my mind had already been tuned to view the world from a certain kind of perspective despite me being a young boy,” he says.

“My siblings and I came to appreciate more my father’s efforts to turn me and my siblings into successful people after his death. He had taught us that good things must be worked for and not just got easily or through queer ways.
“We had to work extremely hard to make sure that I went to school, fed and had good clothing. At such a young age, we had come to believe that working hard and smart was the only way we could achieve whatever we wanted to achieve in life. So, much as my father had died, my siblings and I still knew that our future was in our hands and not in our fathers’ hands who had passed on,” he says.

Values and principles
“I am one person who believes that without God nothing is possible. If it hadn’t been for God, perhaps I wouldn’t have managed to achieve what I have today, neither would I have managed to pass through some of the trying times I faced as a young man.
“However successful a person may be, as long as they don’t have God then what they have built is likely to go to waste. Without God, a person usually gets lost into worldly things,” Musiime says.
“Besides that, I also believe in hard work and discipline as one of the key vehicles to success for any one. If one isn’t hard working and disciplined then it almost impossible for them to reach anywhere in life,” he adds.

WHAT HE BELIEVES IN
“I am one person who believes that without God nothing is possible. If it hadn’t been for God, perhaps I wouldn’t have managed to achieve what I have today, neither would I have managed to pass through some of the trying times I faced as a young man.
“However successful a person may be, as long as they don’t have God then what they have built is likely to go to waste. Without God, a person usually gets lost into worldly things,” Musiime says.