General
MURBS Seminar provokes Staff Entrepreneurial Spirit
“Retirement goes beyond simply choosing a date to retire” were some of the words of wisdom that echoed across the Makerere University Main Hall during the second retirement planning sensitization seminar. As part of its Member Education series, the Makerere University Retirement Benefits Scheme (MURBS) held the seminar on Tuesday 18th March 2014, organized as a way of helping members devise the best plan for their retirement. The MURBS Board of Trustees (BoT) lined up a panel of speakers namely; Mr. Fulgence Mungereza, Mrs. Edna Rugumayo and Mr. Kaka Sudesh, with the promise to tickle, excite and educate.
Welcoming scheme and BoT Members present to the seminar, the Secretary BoT, MURBS, Dr. John Kitayimbwa emphasized the need to have a panel representative of at least three age groups so as to best cater for all Members, the target range being 20 to 70 years. In her opening remarks, the Chairperson, BoT, MURBS Hajjati Fatumah Nakatudde encouraged the audience to always reflect on retirement as a time enjoy the benefits of their hard work and hence prepare adequately for it.
“I encourage each and every one of us here to always seriously; assess your readiness to retire, identify actions to improve your readiness to retire, acquire adequate financial planning knowledge and most importantly develop a saving culture for your retirement,” counseled Hajjati Fatumah Nakatudde.
The first panelist at the seminar Mr. Fulgence Mungereza, a partner with Mungereza and Kariisa, a certified public accounts firm, thanked Members for taking time to attend the event, noting that eminent people especially those employed by Makerere ought to start preparing for retirement as early as the first day at work. “Planning and saving starts now,” emphasized Mr. Mungereza, further noting that “Few retirees live comfortably afterwards, with some being entirely devastated as retirement seems to catch them by surprise!”
He noted the dangers of overdependence on salaries and encouraged the audience to always devise means of securing a side income. Mr. Mungereza who delivered his presentation in a matter-of-factly way then challenged the members especially Men to always consider their partners when making investment decisions. “Working secretly is dangerous! The first partner is your wife,” he wisely counseled.
Mr. Mungereza encouraged the audience to adopt a saving culture, noting that it is not about the amount but the habit “wealth is a function of savings not earnings,” he elaborated. He cautioned members to always review the status of their assets so as to ascertain what to do with them. “Get out of bad debt. Do not borrow a “Cheap debt”; for the sake of servicing expenses.” He instead advised that members should adopt measures like mortgaging their property for the sake of garnering investment capital. Mr. Mungereza concluded by urging all members to write their wills so as to keep their hard-earned money within the family. He commended the audience for investing in quality education for their children but warned against depending on them for their retirement. “Children are a good investment but they may ignore you in your latter years,” he said.
Mrs. Edna Rugumayo, also a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and the ICPAU-nominated MURBS BoT Member then gave her contribution on preparing for retirement as the second panelist of the day. An alumna from the School of Statistics and Applied Economics, Makerere University, Mrs. Rugumayo advised the audience against regarding retirement from Makerere as the complete cessation of active employment. Using her own example as a recent retiree, she noted that we were enjoying a higher standard of living than our forefathers and hence living longer, a factor that necessitated us to carefully plan for retirement. “Planning for retirement is planning for life,” she aptly stated.
Regarding the need to ensure that members lived a well-balanced life, Mrs. Rugumayo offered a few words of wisdom to the younger crop of MURBS members, who unfortunately were sparsely represented in the audience. “Do not wait to marry late, for in so doing, all your problems will be delayed.” She encouraged all present to keep on improving their qualifications so as to avoid going into obsolescence. Recognizing the need to set goals in all aspects of life including one’s income and expenses, Mrs. Rugumayo advised that every goal should be accompanied by a plan or else it would simply remain a wish. “Set long-term goals for your life and then set short-term goals on how to get there [incrementally]. Do not be disappointed when you fall short of your goals but instead have a personal change management plan to help you adjust accordingly,” counseled Mrs. Edna Rugumayo.
She also observed that personal financial planning is an aspect that is closely linked with our lifestyles. In this regard, Mrs. Rugumayo recommended that saving ought to be thought of before spending, noting that saving can only work as a culture. “Draw up a personal saving plan and stick to it. Mandatory saving is good but insufficient because the benefits are received only at the end and will not save you in the event of an emergency,” she advised.
On the subject of where we ought to keep our savings, Mrs. Rugumayo summarily but with the wisdom of one very knowledgeable on the subject said, “At worst, save in the bank. Savings dwindle with time and in the long run, you are enriching the bank,” she pointedly noted. She instead advised members to consider tried and tested avenues like land banking which has been discovered to be lucrative saving vehicle in Uganda. She also advised members to consider investing in Government securities like bonds and treasury bills. And whereas the small business sector is regarded as the least capital intensive, the former Assistant Commissioner Finance at the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) advised that Members should first seek to acquire specialized knowledge on the intricacies of their operations prior to investing in them.
In concluding her presentation, Mrs. Rugumayo noted that there is no one-size-fits-all solution for investment. She also advised that annuity; a fixed sum of money paid out by the Government to retirees each year, is not very well developed in Uganda and advised against totally relying on it.
The third and final panelist of the day and arguably the most energetic then took to the stage and encouraged members to get up and stretch before he could start his presentation. The 31 year old Business Coach and Keynote speaker who retired at only 24 then dared anyone to doze off during his presentation, as he walked to and fro the aisle in the Main Hall. The CEO at Sudesh International Consult Ltd and Graduate of Makerere University then launched into his presentation by defining that a business should be commercial, profitable and above all able to work without your presence.
As one who started doing business at only 10 years of age thanks to a well-established culture of business-minded parents and grandparents, Mr. Sudesh shared that he had lost it all so many times before but most importantly, had learned valuable lessons that continue shaping his business engagements to date. “The most important thing is to get and keep customers,” he shared as one of the lessons learned. He further noted that the principles of good business ought to come first and once mastered, can be applied across varying scenarios for they are more or less the same.
Mr. Sudesh by virtue of his profession meets a lot of business owners and practitioners. He noted that during one such engagement, he more than ever before learnt to respect the distinction between the two-sided nature of business; technical and managerial. He advised business owners and those intending to start to always identify their strength as either technical or managerial and then proceed to employ someone else to handle the side that they were less skilled at. In so doing, they would then be able to avoid stifling the business’ growth, “You cannot do it all. You need partners to carry your business beyond your own dreams,” he advised.
The best timing of when to go into business is a decision that beleaguers one too many. To this end, Mr. Sudesh advised members to always take the initiative to start now, as the conditions will never be 100% perfect. He however advised that once up and running, one ought to treasure their employees, “People matter the most. How you treat your team is the key to your success or failure.” In concluding his presentation Mr. Sudesh asked the audience to always ponder on the three questions; Are you [as a business owner/manager] seeing what is or what you hope for? Are you [as a business/product] remarkable or invisible? Are you [as a business/product] growing or dying?
At the conclusion of the presentations, the audience was given the opportunity to ask questions, which ranged from why one who has worked very hard all their lives should not just simply enjoy their savings, to how to purchase Government securities. In their responses the panelists and BoT Members advised the audience to always look at work as pleasure and even after retirement, to go into those business ventures that are fulfilling. MURBS Members also received advice from Prof. James Ntozi, Chair, Makerere University Pensioners Association (MUPA) to always be united in their demand for good retirement packages from both Makerere University and the Government.
At the conclusion of the seminar the Chairperson, BoT, MURBS Hajjati Fatumah Nakatudde thanked the panelists for their respective great deliveries and members for turning up to receive sound investment advice. She further encouraged members to increase their monthly savings to MURBS. “Mandatory savings currently being deducted are very small. Let us each try to make additional voluntary savings,” she said. The Secretary BoT, MURBS, Dr. John Kitayimbwa reiterated Hajjati Nakatudde’s appeal by sharing that “Last year, MURBS paid out 12.6% interest to members, which was above inflation and 1% more than what NSSF paid to its members.”
The next seminar in the series will feature the MURBS fund managers, who have expressed willingness to come and educate members on how to invest in equities and Government securities. Members are advised to come and attend these trainings to improve their knowledge on sound Financial investment.
Article and Pictures by Public Relations Office
Makerere University has officially launched its Strategic Plan 2025-2030, marking a major milestone in its commitment to strengthening research, innovation, and human capital development in line with Uganda’s national development priorities.
The launch brought together senior government officials, university leadership, and development planners, including the Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, Hon. Henry Musasizi, and a representative from the National Planning Authority (NPA), alongside the University Vice Chancellor.
A Vision Anchored in National Transformation
Speaking at the launch, the Vice Chancellor underscored the University’s ambition to significantly expand graduate training and strengthen its contribution to national development. He noted that the institution is targeting a return to pre-COVID enrolment levels and a substantial increase in postgraduate numbers by 2030, with a focus on producing highly skilled graduates, innovators, and researchers.
He emphasized that the Strategic Plan positions the University as a key driver of Uganda’s transformation through knowledge generation, innovation, and entrepreneurship, aligned with national priorities.
“The staffing distribution is shown here. Under the approved establishment, we intended to have 419 Professors, but we currently have only 75. We planned for 473 Associate Professors, but currently have only 144. This clearly demonstrates that we still have considerable room for growth in strengthening our academic staff profile,” the VC said.
The VC appreciated researchers and research centres, that continue to attract substantial research funding. He highlighted the Infectious Diseases Institute (IDI) and the Makerere University Walter Reed Project which attracted approximately US$70 million in international research funding into Uganda.
“When you combine the grants won by all our researchers through competitive international funding, the total exceeds US$200 million,” he said.
In her remarks, the Chairperson of the University Council, Dr. Lorna Magara, described the Strategic Plan as more than an institutional roadmap, calling it “a public covenant with the people of Uganda.”
She noted that the Plan marks “the launch of Makerere University’s next chapter,” adding that decisions taken over the next five years will shape not only the future of the institution, but also Uganda’s development trajectory through graduates, research, innovations, and leadership.
Dr. Magara emphasized Makerere’s unique national role as Uganda’s premier public university, entrusted with public resources and public confidence.
“Every investment made in Makerere must produce measurable value for the people of Uganda,” she said, underscoring the need for accountability, integrity, and impact.
Ambitious Targets for Transformation
The Council Chairperson and the Vice chancellor outlined bold performance targets under the Strategic Plan, including doubling postgraduate enrolment, increasing STEM enrolment from 30% to 55%, improving PhD completion rates from 10% to 35%, and more than doubling peer-reviewed research output, alongside a significant rise in patents and innovations.
Dr. Magara stressed that these targets are not aspirations alone but binding commitments against which institutional performance will be measured.
“Ambition is precisely what this moment demands. A strategic plan is not measured by the elegance of its language, but by the lives it transforms,” she said.
Call for Stronger Governance and Legal Reform
Dr. Magara also highlighted the need for reform of the Universities and Other Tertiary Institutions Act, Cap. 262, noting that the current legal framework has not kept pace with the evolving realities of university governance and innovation.
She called on Government and Parliament to support a timely review of the Act to enable universities to better optimise knowledge systems, productive assets, and innovation capacity in support of national development.
Government Endorsement and Strategic Alignment
Hon. Henry Musasizi commended the University for developing a forward-looking Strategic Plan aligned with Uganda’s Vision 2040 and the Fourth National Development Plan (NDP IV), which serves as the foundation for the country’s Tenfold Growth Strategy.
He explained that Uganda’s ambition to grow its economy from about USD 50 billion to USD 500 billion requires accelerated growth driven by productivity gains, innovation, and strong human capital development.
“Universities are central actors in national transformation. They are engines of knowledge creation, innovation, and human capital development,” he said.
The Minister stressed that government priorities include strengthening research, promoting industrialization, and ensuring that knowledge generated in universities is translated into practical solutions that support economic growth. He further highlighted the importance of accountability, efficiency, and value for money in public investments in higher education.
Universities as Drivers of the Tenfold Growth Strategy
In his presentation, the Senior Planner at the National Planning Authority, Samuel Kasule, emphasized that the Strategic Plan is firmly anchored in Uganda’s comprehensive development framework under Vision 2040 and NDP IV.
He noted that the Tenfold Growth Strategy seeks to accelerate Uganda’s economic growth into double-digit territory, enabling the country to achieve structural transformation and reach upper middle-income status.
Kasule underscored that universities play a critical role in this transformation through labour productivity, research, and innovation. He pointed out that priority sectors such as agriculture, tourism, minerals, oil and gas, and ICT depend heavily on skilled graduates and strong research ecosystems.
He also highlighted the importance of competency-based education, alignment of academic programmes with national human resource needs, and strengthening postgraduate training and research outputs.
A Shared Commitment to Transformation
Across all speeches, a strong message emerged: universities are central to Uganda’s development agenda and must evolve into research-intensive institutions that directly contribute to economic transformation.
The Strategic Plan 2025-2030 was widely commended for its focus on innovation, industry collaboration, digital transformation, and the commercialization of research outputs.
Government leaders reaffirmed continued support for higher education institutions through research funding, innovation ecosystems, and strengthened university–industry partnerships.
Conclusion
The launch of the Strategic Plan 2030 signals a renewed commitment to positioning the University as a key partner in Uganda’s development journey. With strong alignment to national priorities, the Plan is expected to accelerate research, innovation, and skills development necessary for achieving Uganda’s long-term economic ambitions. The Strategic Plan may be accessed at: https://mak.ac.ug/about/strategic-plan
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