Uganda, April 30 -- Nation-building is like construction. Different leaders play different roles. Some break ground. Others raise the walls. Others will one day roof.

Yet history often praises the finished building. It forgets the hands that dug the foundation. The real story begins long before the finishing mouldings appear.

Let's return to the basics. In many countries, the first phase of nation-building looks slow, tedious, even underwhelming.

It is about stabilising, holding together, and preventing reversal. It is messy. It is contested. But without it, nothing durable stands.

The second phase is different. It is sharper, more visible. It enforces order, demands efficiency, and converts potential into performance.

Consider Mao Z...