Gen Tumukunde and the Safeguarding of Workers Wealth: A Blueprint for NSSF Independence and National Growth

What the report says

Nile Post published an opinion piece arguing that Uganda’s National Social Security Fund (NSSF) should be insulated from political pressure as it manages workers’ retirement savings and increasingly acts as a major investor in regional markets. The article was written by Morrison Rwakakamba and uses the recent NSSF declaration of a 22.53% interest rate and a reported Shs5.44 trillion credit to member accounts as a backdrop for its discussion of institutional independence.

The piece says the fund now holds assets of about Shs32.8 trillion and has more than Shs10 trillion invested across regional equities, sovereign debt and cross-border capital markets in Kenya, Tanzania and Rwanda. It warns that public directives or political rhetoric aimed at the fund could unsettle investors, raise concerns among rating agencies and other market participants, and affect the value of debt instruments where NSSF has holdings.

The author also presents NSSF as an important source of domestic long-term capital for Uganda’s development, saying it can help finance infrastructure and reduce reliance on foreign borrowing if managed prudently. At the same time, the article argues that workers’ savings should remain protected from direct political use and that any support for national projects should be structured in ways that preserve returns for members.