The legacy of Rajiv Ruparelia

Why this 35 years old kid will continue to live in the memory of many people for generations to come

THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda | On Saturday May 03 around 2.20am, fate struck. Rajiv Ruparelia, son of Uganda’s richest couple, Sudhir and Jyotsna Ruparelia, died in a horrible car accident. He was only 35 years old and left behind a little daughter. It was a tragedy of unparalleled magnitude. His car rammed into road barriers at Busabala, along the Kanyansi-Munyonyo highway, at high speed. The barriers are made of concrete reinforced with steel. The car overturned, flew in the air for about 80 meters and crashed to the ground in a ball of fire. Both Rajiv and the car were incinerated beyond recognition.

I knew Rajiv well since his teenage years. His dad and mum are close friends. Their home, alongside that of security minister, Maj. Gen. Jim Muhwezi and his wife, Susan, I frequent the most in Uganda. Sometime in 2007 in Kanyandahi, my mother introduced Sudhir to President Yoweri Museveni as her second born son. Since then, whenever Sudhir introduces me to his relatives, in-laws and friends who do not know me, especially when we are travelling abroad, he tells them that he is my brother and recites this story. So, Rajiv was a nephew even though, he, like his sister Sheena and Meera, always called me grandpa, a title I love.

Rajiv was a fun-kid. He loved life and lived it to the fullest. He grew in wealth, loved to make money, yet he never sought a luxurious lifestyle. Except for his love of motorsport, which drove him to love expensive sports cars, the rest of his life was simple. He wore ordinary clothes, rode on bodas if there was too much traffic, went to ordinary clubs and bars and dealt with everyone without regard to their status. He laughed constantly and loudly and was happiest in the company of his friends. Life and money made meaning to him only when he enjoyed it with friends and family.

Yet despite his love of fun, Rajiv was also driven and passionate about the family business to which he devoted his enormous energy and talent. I witnessed this most especially when crooked officials in the Bank of Uganda sought to rob Crane Bank from the family and destroy Sudhir. Rajiv joined the battle, and immediately took lead when he felt the father was hesitant. He understood the nature of the enemy, read through their plots and intentions and braced himself to stop them. Working with unprecedented energy and skill, he investigated their schemes, accumulated mountains of evidence, mobilized traditional and social media and went to battle. In trying to stop these crooks and bring them to book, Rajiv was willing to go to any length regardless of the consequences to him.

That was my grandson: courageous, tenacious, unrelenting in pursuit of his family justice. The Crane Bank saga brought Rajiv and I even closer. We worked together, with Sudhir, non-stop, day and night – first to try save the bank and later to fight the crooks. We know the nature of a person when they confront a big challenge. On this score, Rajiv excelled beyond all precedent for a kid of 27 years. He stood tall as a defender of the Ruparelia legacy. When Crane Bank was lost, Rajiv sought a new challenge.

His family own Victoria University. Sudhir bought it in 2013. By 2019, it was not making any progress. With only 194 students, the university was hemorrhaging $100,000 per month from other family businesses to sustain it. That year, Sudhir appointed Rajiv to take charge. Rajiv asked me to sit on the University Council. Our task was to turn the university into a commercially viable and self-sustaining institution. It is then that I watched, at first hand, Rajiv’s talents. He always had many business ideas bubbling in his head which he expressed with incredible clarity. But I had never witnessed him up-close managing a business transformation.

Victoria University had been positioned as an elite institution with high fees. Rajiv believed this was its undoing given the income level of Uganda. He selected a mixture of different talents to sit on the council and got the right group. Driving the council in constant meetings, we studied the fees’ structure, course units and other competitive elements of Ugandan universities. One day, when this process was complete, Rajiv called me and told me we need a new vice chancellor to drive the reform process. He sent me a CV of a one Dr. Lawrance Muganga, then at lecturer in Canada. He had been recommended to him by someone and wanted my opinion.

I was impressed by the CV and profile and told him so. Working with incredible energy and passion, he hired Lawrance immediately. Within weeks, the new vice chancellor arrived, took charge, and the business of transforming Victoria University began in earnest. Rajiv always thought outside of the box. He had a persistent desire to do same things differently, to break new ground. Since council had decided Victoria should be made a university for every Ugandan, Rajiv decided to use unorthodox means to present it so. He invited Bad Black and other such persons as brand ambassadors.

Some members of the council, including Sudhir, were appalled. How can we associate the university with such unsavory characters. Friends called me to complain about this denigration. I am sometimes attracted to crackpot ideas, and I admired Rajiv’s energy, passion, conviction and drive. Thus, despite my reservations, I trusted Rajiv’s instincts and supported him fully. The university was estimated to break even at 900 students. Lawrence brought Conan Busigye to lead a marketing team. Within a year, Victoria University enrollment reached 3,000 students. Today, it has over 10,000 students and no longer a drain on the finances of the Ruparelia Group. It is the only school in Uganda that grew during COVID.

Whenever someone dies, the central question is: of what value has your life been? Despite its vicissitudes, life remains an attractive experience to treasure and hold onto in large part because we are not sure of the afterlife. Our presence on earth makes sense only if we leave behind a good legacy, actions and words that will remain in the memory of our fellow human beings. Rajiv has died physically – but only in the physical sense. He has left behind a great legacy, an institution that will live long and impact this country. Therefore, his memory will continue to live inside us through the achievements and contribution of Victoria University.

****

[email protected]