KAMPALA- On Wednesday afternoon, the Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development Hon Matia Kasaija appointed a new Board of Directors for the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) for the next three years effective September 01, 2021.
The new NSSF board is headed by Dr. Peter Kimbowa, a corporate governance and management expert.
Dr Kimbowa, who is also the Team Leader at the CEO Summit Uganda – a private sector Think Tank, Managing Partner at IFE Consultants Limited and an award-winning Business Leader, replaces Patrick Byabakama Kaberenge, whose term expired on August 31, 2021, after serving for the last six years.
The Minister also appointed to the Board four representatives of the trade unions, two representatives of employers through the Federation of Uganda Employers (FUE).
He re-appointed Aggrey David Kibenge representing the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development, and Patrick Ocailap, representing the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development.
The Minister also appointed Dr Eng Silver Mugisha and Fred K Bamwesigye representing Employers through the Federation of Uganda Employers (FUE).
Other appointees are, Sam Lyomoki and Penninah Tukamwesiga representing workers under the Confederation of Free Trade Unions (COFTU); Julius Bahemuka and Hassan Lwabayi Mudiba, also representing workers under the National Organisation of Trade Unions (NOTU).
According to the appointments, the NSSF Managing Director Richard Byarugaba will continue serving as the only executive member of the 12th Board.
Dr. Kimbowa said his appointment was a big challenge:
“It is a big challenge at personal and professional level because the Fund has been very successful beyond expecatioatins over the last 18 years. We will have to find what is missing or the next opportunity to reinvigorate the Fund, re-imagine what else is possible to create the Fund of the future.”
He added the new team will reshape and repurpose the investment portfolio to make it responsive to the market, take advantage of 5th Industrial revolution by prioritizing digitization and analysitcs to ensure the culture to make NSSF fit for purpose.
NSSF worth
The new team finds the Fund at its most liquidity in its long history.
According to The Independent, by March 2021, the members’ fund had grown to 14.62 trillion Shillings compared to 12.65 trillion Shillings recorded at the end of March 2020, despite a slight decline in members’ contributions over the two periods.
NSSF has shares across the stock markets in the region. The Ugandan banks in which NSSF has ownership include Stanbic, DFCU and Bank of Baroda, while it also invested in DTB, CFC Stanbic, KCB, Equity and NIC Bank. The income from dividends, therefore, declined by 24.5 billion Shillings to 27.5 billion S
Who are the faces behind this new board?
Dr. Kimbowa
Outside a brief in the opening lines of this article, Kimbowa, known among his peers as PK, is a Board member and adviser to the Boards in: ESKOM Uganda Limited, Equity Bank, Baylor College of Medicine which is based both in Mulago Hospital and Houston Texas, and advisor to the Petroleum Authority of Uganda (PAU). He is also a member of the Kampala Archdiocese and Uganda Investment Authority. Dr. Kimbowa is also the Team leader of the CEO Apprenticeship Program jointly conducted with Strathmore Business School Kenya since 2013. He is a member of the Association of African Business Schools – AABS; an Adjunct Faculty – Strathmore Business School; a member of the American Management Association; an Associate of the Uganda National Academy of Sciences; a founding Member of the Association of Management Consultants of Uganda (AMCU); the founding member of the Association of Uganda Coaches and Mentors and a Board member of the Financial Sector Deepening Initiative of the Executive Coaching Association for Africa. (FS-ECA).
Outside leadership and governance, Dr. Kimbowa is Rotarian, a major Donor and a Past Assistant Governor (2013/2014) in the Rotary District 9211 whose jurisdiction covers Uganda and Tanzania. He served as a District Public Relations Officer and he is the Rotary District 9211 Treasurer for the year 2017/2018.
Mr. Byarugaba
Byarugaba does not need much introduction. He is a Ugandan business executive, banker, entrepreneur and managing director and chief executive officer of the National Social Security Fund (Uganda), a semi-autonomous retirement pension organization for non-government employees in Uganda.[He was also listed in 2012 as one of the wealthiest individuals in Uganda.
Byarugaba was born in 1961 in the Western Region of Uganda. He attended Makerere University, Uganda’s oldest public institution of tertiary education, graduating with a degree in statistics and economics. He is a qualified accountant with the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants of the United Kingdom (UK). He also holds a diploma in management from Henley Management College, also in the UK.
Byarugaba has held various positions over the years, with the majority in Uganda’s banking sector. He started as a banking officer at Standard Chartered Uganda (Stanchart), in 1983. By 1992, he had risen to executive director for finance at Stanchart. In 1994, he was transferred to Stanchart’s international headquarters in London, as the regional manager for finance, responsible for Africa. He returned to Uganda in 1997, where he joined Nile Bank Limited, a private retail bank. He became managing director of the bank in 2003. In 2007, Barclays, the British financial conglomerate, bought all the shares of Nile Bank Limited for US $27 million (UGX: 52 billion). The new owners merged the bank with their existing banking interests in the country to form the existing Barclays Bank (Uganda). Byarugaba moved to Barclays Bank (Uganda) as the chief operating officer.
In 2008, when Global Trust Bank (Uganda) was established, the new owners appointed Byarugaba as managing director of the newly created bank. He held that position until 2010 when he left to become the managing director and chief executive officer of the National Social Security Fund (Uganda).
Byarugaba has also worked with Hospice Africa, the Palliative Care Association of Uganda, and the Uganda Institute of Banking and Financial Services. When he resigned from Global Trust Bank, he was the treasurer of the Uganda Bankers Association.
Mr. Ocailap
Ocailap is the Deputy Secretary to the Treasury and represents the interest of the ministry on the NSSF Board
Mr. Kibenge
A teacher and an administrator, Kibenge is the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Gender, Labor and Social Development. Before Gender, Kibenge served as the Under Secretary (Finance and Administration) in the Ministry of Education and Sports; Undersecretary Finance and Administration in the Office of the Prime Minister and served the Ministry of Tourism, Wildlife and Antiquities in the same capacity. KIbenge is a qualified English Language and Literature teacher, a qualification he obtained from Kyambogo University. He holds a Masters Degree in Public Administration and Management.
Ms. Tukamwesiga
She has a lot of wealth in the legal docket. Tukamwesiga is a Director at NSSF and Uganda Clays Limited. She previously worked at Jojoma Advocates and Owen Murangira & Co Advocates, and was also a legal director at COFTU. Tukamwesiga has a vast experience and expertise in corporate governance, human rights, employment law and commercial law
Hon. Lyomoki
Lyomoki is a Member of Parliament (MP) representing workers in the 11th Parliament and a medical doctor turned trade unionist of over 20 years. He was also Guild President of Makerere University during his student days.
Mr. Bahemuka
Mr. Bahemuka is an administrator at Kyambogo University.
Mr. Lwabayi
He is the General Secretary of Uganda Local Government Workers’ Union and represents workers under the National Organisation of Trade Unions (NOTU).
Mr. Bamwesigye
Mr. Fred K. Bamwesigye is the acting director general Uganda Civil Aviation Authority (UCAA), a government agency responsible for licensing, monitoring, and regulating civil aviation matters. He hold a Degree in law and a Masters.
Eng. Dr. Mugisha
Dr Mugisha (is the current Managing Director of National Water and Sewerage Corporation (NWSC). He has been in this position since 2013. He has over 20 years’ experience in water utility management, international policy, research and advisory services. He specializes in institutional development, policy analysis and utility transformational and change management processes. He has published widely in peer reviewed journals. His recent (2019) book volume, published by IWA Publishing is on “Sustaining High Performing Public Enterprises: A Case of National Water and Sewerage Corporation, Uganda”. He also authored another book (published by IWA Publishing) titled, “Utility Benchmarking and Regulation in Developing Countries: Practical Application of Performance Monitoring and Incentives”.
He was a member and Vice President of IWA (2014 – 2018). He is the Vice President for African Water Association for East African Region (2014 – to date) and a member of SENSE Research School of the Netherlands.