Bare Foot Abila and the power of innovation

What is your greatest extravagance?

Of recent it has become food because I realised many of us are taken up by work and forget living healthy. We can afford to upgrade to the latest gadget but forget our bodies which makes us break down.

What is your current state of mind?

I am happy and contented.

What do you consider the most overrated virtue?

The pursuit for financial reward is so overrated because people assume that by seeking a financial reward for whatever you do will automatically bring happiness. If only people knew other alternatives to happiness, they would realise it’s much easier and a lot more fulfilling to focus on happiness than focusing on pursuit of financial gain as a path to happiness.

On what occasion do you lie?

I sometimes lie to myself and those around me especially when I fail to fulfill what was expected of me.

What do you most dislike about your appearance?

I like it that I am an African and there’s nothing I don’t like about me.

Which living person do you most despise?

I despise those that spread whichever form of hate either based on race, religion or country. I believe humanity is the ultimate law and anyone who tries to affect humanity is affecting the ultimate law which is a passion of mine.

What is the quality you most like in a man?

A man should be able to look after his family.

What is the quality you most like in a woman?

A good woman should have ambitions that are limitless. Women have a gift to also be mothers and so the peace of the world rests on them.

What or who is the greatest love of your life?

My wife and son.

When and where were you happiest?

I was happiest when my son started laughing. We had gone shopping and suddenly he laughed with a voice when he saw me and my wife laughing. That was my happiest moment.

Which talent would you most like to have?

I wish I was able to fly. I and my brother always believed we can fly without wings.

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?

If I can reduce a bit on the organisation and be a bit more random.

What do you consider your greatest achievement?

In May it was my first time to travel to the United States and I addressed a United Nations session. The session was recorded live on BBC radio and the UN web TV.

If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what would it be?

I wouldn’t want to come back because I would have played my role and moved on.

Where would you most like to live?

Uganda because it’s the place I know and it’s where my family is.

What is your most treasured possession?

It’s a book ‘Aesop’s fables’. It’s the first I remember my mother ever giving me. I was six years old then but unfortunately it got lost. In P.7 because I liked the book very much I went out with   my own money and bought it. I still have it to date.

What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?

Not knowing who you really are, what you can do and what you can’t do is total misery and it even affects people around you.

What is your favorite occupation?

Law

What is your most marked characteristic?

Because of my ability to generate ideas all the time, I try as much as possible to move with gadgets to record so those who know me say I am innovative.

What do you most value in your friends?

The team at Barefoot Law – these are guys who saw an idea and believed in it. They followed through for years without any single coin but they stayed around. I can’t put a single answer to your question but I’ve learnt a lot about friendship from this team – Lessons of resilience, sharing the same goal, and supporting each other.

Who are your favorite writers?

I enjoy works of Uganda’s Okot p’ Bitek and elsewhere Khalil Gibran, a Lebanese Poet and writer.

Who is your hero of fiction?

Tom Hanks in a 1994 movie acted a character ‘Forrest Gump’. The man wanted to follow his dreams and had never thought of himself as disadvantaged despite his background.

Which historical figure do you most identify with?

People say I resemble my grand dad but I didn’t meet him. My grandmother told me stories about him and I realised we share a lot in character.  I feel I am a reincarnation of him that’s why I identify with him much as I didn’t see him.

Who are your heroes in real life?

My parents and the team at Bare Foot law.  We are a team of 17 volunteers but a lot of what happens here is just humbling.

What are your favorite names?

I named my son after my dad. He is Otim Nape Abila. Those are my favorite names.

What is your greatest regret?

I should have spent more time with my family while still at law school. I realised I made a lot of social sacrifices as I immersed myself in the course  and ended up missing a lot of important moments that I can’t go back to get.

How would you like to die?

Death is life in a different state of being. I believe at whatever point or in whatever way the transition occurs it has occurred. I have no control.

What is your motto?

Do what you are supposed to do, do it well, and do it on time.

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editor@independent.co.ug