The problem of being Chief Executive Officer National Social Security Fund - Uganda

David Chandi Jamwa was acting MD from September 2004 until February 2007 when he was appointed MD next to him is Prof.Kagonyera

National Social Security Fund (NSSF) advertised the position of Managing Director for the Fund in the New Vision, Monday, April 26,2010. The unfortunate thing is that in recent history, all who have been appointed to this position have left with a tainted image. While they may have made their own mistakes, there is the problem of powers fromabove influencing what and where the billions of the Fund are put. This trend is likely to discredit whoever takes on the appointment.
William Kituuka

Uganda Jobline: MANAGING DIRECTOR :::: National Social Security Fund (NSSF)- Source: http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=347299929556
MANAGING DIRECTOR :::: National Social Security Fund (NSSF)
Friday, 05 March 2010 at 10:09
National Social Security Fund (NSSF) is a Provident Fund mandated to provide social security to its members as prescribed by law under CAP 222 through the efficient and effective management of members' contributions. Its vision is To be the region's leading social security provider, delivering a wide rage of quality products and services and a real return to our members, while driving economic development and sustaining a competitive advantage in a free market". NSSF is looking for an experienced, self motivated and hardworking individual that is career and results oriented to fill the above position. REPORTS TO: MANAGING DIRECTOR This is an exceptional opportunity that calls for an experienced, innovative Executive who is responsible for all the corporate matters that include provision of Company Secretarial Services to the NSSF Board of Directors and provision of legal advisory services and support to the Fund. KEY RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE JOB: Board secretarial services: ⢠Prepares and/or reviews Board papers from other business units for quality assurance purposes, for Board and Committee meetings. ⢠In consultation with the Chairman and MD, prepares a schedule and an agenda for Board and committee meetings .Reviews agenda for board and committee meetings. ⢠Informs the Board on key issues affecting the Fund and respond to Board queries and requests with regards to areas to do with current or future legislation. ⢠Prepares Action reports for reporting back to the Board on the progress of implementation of Board decisions. ⢠He/she will ensure proper and orderly conduct of Board meetings and Board Committee meetings. Managerial responsibilities ⢠Member of the Fund's top Executive Management ⢠Allocates work in the department and monitor progress, performance, and timely quality of service. ⢠Approves all expenses relating to the Department in accordance with the Fund's standard procedures. ⢠Responsible for custody, and application of Fund's common seal. ⢠Responsible for the custody of the Fund's official documents Advisory services: ⢠Provides legal advisory services to all matters of a legal nature in the Fund. This would include areas such as new legislating, internal policies and procedures, major pending cases involving / affecting the Fund, insurance, social security issues etc. ⢠Provides legal advice on benefits payable, drawing contracts, prosecuting employers, defending the Fund in courts of law and advise on requests / applications for exemption from making contributions. ⢠Reviews and finaluzes contracts for various services from-the business units and external parties to the Fund. Negotiate with external parties on contract terms and conditions. ⢠Prepares the gazette notices and statutory instruments tor declaration of interest payable to members, by the Minister. ⢠Oversees the carrying out of legal due diligence on investment proposals for submission to the executive committee of management and subsequently to the Board. ⢠Ensures timely compliance with all statutory requirements. PERSON SPECIFICATIONS: Desirable Competencies ⢠Good judgment and decision making skills ⢠Planning and organizational skills ⢠Leadership and people management skills ⢠Quality orientation ⢠Good oral and written communication skills ⢠Negotiation and influencing skills ⢠Demonstrated high levels of integrity (candidates must provide or attach a strong recommendation or testimony of their integrity and moral uprightness) QUALIFICATIONS: LLB(Hon) Degree; Postgraduate Diploma in Legal practice and; the person MUST be an Advocate of the High Court of Uganda. A recognized management course or 1CSA would be an added advantage. EXPERIENCE Applicants should have; ⢠A working experience of over 10 years ⢠Out standing track record of having handled successful litigations or court cases. ⢠Excellent analytical skills, sound judgment and collaborative working style with capability to work in partnership with the Board, MD and other heads of department. ⢠High level of personal integrity, considerable knowledge, experience and competence in managing legal matters. ⢠Ability to lead and create a motivated and energized human resource base, with a focus on results based performance. ⢠Ability to handle corporate matters ⢠The age limit is 35 years to 55 years Other Information This is senior position job and terms and conditions of service are very attractive.

HOW TO APPLY:Ernst and Young has been retained by NSSF to assist in the short listing process. If you feel you meet the above requirements, please send them your application enclosing a detailed curriculum vitae giving three referees and copies of academic and professional certificates/testimonials, postal address and daytime telephone contact quoting Ref. 111 to address:Ernst and Young, Executive Selection Division.18 Clement Hill Road.P.O. Box 7215, Kampala so as to reach them by 19 March 2010Canvassing will lead to disqualification and applications received after the closing date will not be considered.

New NSSF MD - Source: http://www.independent.co.ug/index.php/cover-story/cover-story/82-cover-story/2858-new-nssf-md
On December 30, 2009 the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) appointed Grace Isabirye as Acting Managing Director (MD) pending a formal appointment of a new MD by the NSSF board of directors.
Isabirye had been NSSF’s Chief Investments Officer and was taking over from Martin Bandebiire who resigned in the same month. Bandebiire on the other hand had held this position severally.
When Jamwa was suspended over his involvement in the Shs11.2 billion Temangalo land scandal, Bandebiire took over once again as Acting MD until he tendered his resignation to the Minister of Finance. Jamwa, even though suspended, had an active and running contract with NSSF. Jamwa’s contract together with that of his Deputy – Prof. Mondo Kagonyera expired in February and has not been renewed as was largely expected.
Recently, NSSF has run adverts in the local media and has appointed Earnest & Young to handle the short-listing of process of filling the position of MD. Experts are divided on whether executive searches by professional firms and newspaper adverts do not always produce the best choices. In fact, according to sources close to State House who spoke to The Independent on condition of anonymity, there is a quiet head-hunt for a new MD that has been going on since the beginning of the year.
According to the source, the head-hunt has since generated a shortlist of Ugandan executives to take over the leadership of the country’s pension fund. The Independent has been able to speak to at least four of the persons named and while one admitted having been contacted informally, they all variously said they were not interested in the job.
Head-hunts of this nature are common since for such jobs as it would be a mistake to hire an ‘experienced yet generally unknown person’.
“This is not an attempt to interfere with or short-circuit the recruitment process,” said a source close to the process, “But NSSF is an institution in which the state has a strategic interest, it is in charge of the savings of the workers of this nation and after all that has gone on there, it would be wrong for those in charge to sit by and look, only to take the blame when things go wrong. The head-hunt is in good faith and for the good of NSSF and the workers”.
While the NSSF advert lists requirement for candidates like a bachelor’s and post graduate/masters degree in either commerce, finance, business management or any other relevant degree, 10 years experience managing a top financial entity, and familiarity with current global and local regulatory environment for investing funds, it does not list the most important requirement; being acceptable to President Yoweri Museveni.
NSSF is the sole pension fund for workers in Uganda’s private sector. It has a net worth of Shs 1.4 trillion, equivalent to 25 percent of the national budget for the financial year 2009/10. Management of the fund is so critical that President Museveni moved its oversight from the Ministry of Labour, where it rightfully belongs, to the Ministry of Finance and Planning.
Unfortunately, all previous management teams of the fund have either been fired in disgrace or been charged in court and parliament and suspended over corruption. NSSF is at the centre of the most high profile financial malpractice cases in Uganda today, and a former minister responsible for it fled into exile to avoid jail.
Insiders say Allen Kagina, the Commissioner General of Uganda Revenue Authority and Simon Rutega, the Chief Executive Officer of the Uganda Securities Exchange are the front-runners for the job. Both are going to be out of their current jobs this year, are highly qualified for the job, and have generally clean records.

David Chandi Jamwa

Sources say that although David Jamwa left the Fund amidst acrimony, he is still regarded positively by Museveni who considered him bad mannered and misled but “smart and not corrupt” during the Temangalo land saga. The Auditor General in his report to Parliament has faulted Jamwa and his deputy, Mondo Kagonyera, for some of the financial losses suffered by the Fund and has recommended their prosecution. Several voices from the public and workers organisations continue to call for their prosecution, making the inclusion of Jamwa’s name on the list surprising. Jamwa is undoubtedly brilliant but carries with him a lot of reputational risk and potential prosecution.
Jamwa’s tenure at NSSF has been the most stellar because of his aggressive management of the Fund’s investment portfolio into more profitable ventures. The fund hit the Shs 1 trillion mark under him and for the first time paid savers a return above the rate of inflation of 14% from 7%.
He oversaw a US$1.95 million investment for 20% of the Kampala Serena Hotel, US$12 million in a National Farmers Association project, Shs 16 billion lent to the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA), and Shs 128 billion in the redevelopment of the National Theatre. Some like the Temangalo land and the Lumumba Avenue NSSF tower have attracted negative publicity but most experts agree that they are sound investment decisions.
Before he joined NSSF, Jamwa was the youngest ever Senior Partner at PriceWaterHouseCoopers. A highly acclaimed brain, he was the best student worldwide in his professional accounting exams.
He competed for the top job of NSSF with Charles Ocici, the current Executive Director of Enterprise Uganda and Dr William Muhairwe, the current Managing Director National Water and Sewerage Corporation (NWSC).
His stint at the Fund brought out the dangers of external interference in the internal management of any company.
NSSF hurdles
Experts say the manner in which the race to fill the NSSF MD job is being conducted is symptomatic of the malaise in many other government departments and agencies – the obsession with personalities. The person and character of an individual manager can and often turns round the fortunes of many corporations but that is not and should not be the main focus of change in any organisation.
What is lacking at NSSF is autonomous good governance. Good governance is increasingly recognised as one of the most important aspects of an efficient pension system, enhancing investment performance and benefit security. Yet despite regulatory initiatives, weaknesses persist in the management of NSSF because of the absence of well-defined governance principles and excessive external interference especially by powerful politicians.
Policy makers in Uganda have continued to have difficulties deciding the right policy framework within which the NSSF ought to operate. At the height of its many scandals, the oversight role was transferred from the Ministry of Labour to that of Finance, the argument being that the Ministry of Labour did not possess the technical competence to manage a Fund of that magnitude. The decision proved disastrous with the “Temangalo scandal”. As a knee-jerk reaction, a proposal to transfer the Fund to be supervised by the Bank of Uganda as a Financial Institution was mooted but never pursued.
The proposed liberalisation of the pension sector remains the most rational policy option whose achievement seems far from today. Because the NSSF continues to be a statutory monopoly, it lacks competition and self introspection and consequently continues to suffer the age old problems of monopolies. Just like the Fund itself, the policy has been shrouded in political in-fighting and jostling for business.
NSSF remains the most financially liquid institution in the country. Today, NSSF’s net worth is Shs1.5 trillion and has 404,000 registered members. The Fund pays out Shs 6 billion on average every month.
The main challenge facing NSSF is a lack of necessary knowledge, experience, skills and training among its managers. This inhibits their ability to appreciate the peculiar issues that relate to management of pension funds and they are unable to challenge any advice they receive from outside “experts”.
The other nagging problem at NSSF has been the composition of its various Boards. The responsibilities of board members seem not to be clearly defined. The boards have often seemed to lack a clear mission statement and regularly engage in the operational duties which should be left to internal management staff or external service providers.
The selection of board members, as in the case of the current board, was on the basis of representatives of stakeholders and was done under immense public pressure. As ever, the authorities bowed to public pressure rather than sound reason. Board members were mainly selected on the basis of their status in a trade union or employer, rather than specific knowledge or experience on pension issues.
A former top official with NSSF who did not want to be named told this reporter, “Some sobriety needs to be brought to NSSF. The problem at NSSF has majorly been the discipline of its managers. They lack financial discipline. The managers have not been looking at the Fund as an institution they should grow but rather most investment decisions taken have been mainly for the benefit of individuals.”
The former official was not supportive of a headhunt and was strongly in favour of a competitive selection process in finding a suitable MD for the Fund.

NSSF appoints new Ag. MD/ CEO -Source: http://www.nssfug.org/47/News/NSSF_appoints_new_Ag._MD_CEO

New boss: Mr. Grace IsabiryeThe National Social Security Fund (NSSF) has appointed Mr. Grace Isabirye as Ag. Managing Director/CEO effective December 30, 2009.
Mr. Isabirye, who has been the Fund’s Chief Investments Officer, takes over running of the Fund after the resignation of Mr. Martin Bandebiire.
An Accountant by profession, Mr. Isabirye has in the past held key positions in the Fund and in some of the leading banks in Uganda such Housing Finance Bank and Uganda Development Bank (UDB). Until his new assignment, he has been heading the Fund’s investment function, charged with overseeing the Fund's various investmnet interests. He had also been the Fund’s Chief Finance Officer.
Professional profile
* Certified Public Accountant
* Member of CFA Institute
* Member Global Association of Risk Professionals
* B. Com (MUK)
Key positions held before
* Chief Investments Officer: NSSF
* Chief Finance Officer: NSSF
* Finance Manager: Housing Finance Bank
* Accountant: Uganda Development Bank
* Internal Auditor: NSSF


Fresh Inquiry for Mbabazi and Former NSSF Managers - Source: http://allafrica.com/stories/201004050660.html
Ismail Musa Ladu and Emmanuel Gyezaho
4 April 2010
A government forensic investigation of the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) appears to have awakened the ghosts of Temangalo and now charges the Fund's former managers with alleged impropriety.
Minister Mbabazi, former Managing Director Chandi Jamwa and his former deputy, Prof. Mwondo Kagonyera, find themselves in the spotlight once again over the controversial Temangalo land transaction.
In late 2008, the minister found himself embroiled in a bitter controversy over alleged influence peddling when it emerged that the Fund had been pressured into buying more than 400 acres of land in Temangalo belonging to himself and business associate, Amos Nzeyi, for more than Shs11 billion.
It was after an acrimonious and inconclusive Parliamentary inquiry into this matter, and after he had sacked former finance minister Ezra Suruma in February 2009, that President Museveni ordered a probe of the Fund's activities.
That investigation which took on the character of a forensic audit was taken up by the Auditor General and its findings are now the subject of Parliamentary scrutiny, yet again, and will form the highlight of business for Parliament's committee on Commissions, Statutory Authorities and State enterprises for the next few weeks.
Committee Chairman Reagan Okumu told Sunday Monitor in an interview that the report, presented by Auditor General John Muwanga at a low key ceremony on March 12, will form the basis of renewed inquiry into the management of NSSF.
The investigation, carried out by Kenyan audit firm KPMG on behalf of the Auditor General, probed NSSF's major investments, investments in shares and joint ventures, and major procurements between January 2005 and November 2008, before concluding that "a lot went wrong with the management of NSSF."
In his brief to Parliament, Mr Muwanga recommended the initiation of criminal proceedings against the Fund's former managers, telling MPs: "Mr Chairman, we would like to see the Police and CID take interest in these issues that were established in our report and we will also want to see [Parliament] take action against all those found to be guilty."
With specific reference to the Shs11 billion Temangalo land transaction between the Fund and Minister Mbabazi, the AG concludes that the procurement process for the land deal started in January 2008 and yet negotiations and valuations were done in December 2007, a development that rendered the deal fishy.
"NSSF's procurement and investment in land was not in accordance with the PPDA Act," wrote the AG. "The PP (Public Procurement) Form 20s that were used for the purchase of land were dated after the NSSF had negotiated with the vendors. This form is usually used at the start or initial stages of the procurement process."
Although Parliament's earlier inquiry into the transaction absolved Mr Mbabazi and his business partner Amos Nzeyi of allegations of influence peddling in the deal having come under pressure from President Museveni to get Mr Mbabazi off the hook, Mr Okumu said the stage had now been set for fresh probe into the deal.
"Mr Mbabazi and the former managing directors of NSSF (Jamwa and Prof Kagonyera) will all be summoned next week to explain specifically their roles in the Temangalo procurement," said Mr Okumu in an interview on Friday.
MPs return from their Easter recess on Tuesday and it is understood summons to the officials will be sent out this week. "All those who participated in the shady deals, including the Temangalo, where the procurement procedures according to the Auditor General's report were flouted, will be brought to account," said Mr Okumu, adding, "I have given the CID the task to summarise what is criminal in the report so that when we start, we don't waste much time as I will be referring criminal issues to the CID."
The report accuses Mr Jamwa and Prof. Kagonyera of financial impropriety by obtaining cash advances, allowances and loans from the Fund in millions of shillings "without consideration of the organisation's policies."
The report indicates that Mr Jamwa received Shs259 million in housing advances alone, and picked up six salary advances, totaling to Shs149 million in two years and yet company rules only allow for one salary advance per year. Prof. Kagonyera received four salary advances in 2007 alone, the report said.
Huge debts
However, as at January 31, 2009, the report says, both managers owed NSSF a combined total of Shs355 million and recommends that Parliament forces the managers to refund the money.
It is still not clear whether the money has been refunded following the top managers' exit as attempts by this newspaper to obtain a comment from NSSF were fruitless.
However, Prof. Kagonyera said he was itching to face the committee to clear his name.
"I am going nowhere," said Prof. Kagonyera who is Makerere University Chancellor today. "Should Reagan [Okumu] need me, I will be there ready to answer any question but I have not received any summon or communication to appear anywhere."
Mr Jamwa and Mr Mbabazi were unavailable for comment having failed to respond to repeated calls. The committee is also expected to probe NSSF's management over the sale of government bonds and the award of various construction deals by the Fund.
Finance Minister Syda Bbumba, under whose docket the Fund falls, declined to comment on the matter and said she was "busy."