Ayota Appointed NSSF Caretaker as MD Byarugaba’s Contract ends

The National Social Security Fund (NSSF) Managing Director, Richard Byarugaba, has stepped out of his office to await his fate as his contract comes to an end.

In an internal memo sent to all staff on Thursday, 1 December 2022, Byarugaba said his contract ends Friday, December 2, 2002.

“Today marks the last day of my current contract as Managing Director at the Fund. I will be away from the office starting tomorrow, 2nd December 2022 as I await the final decision on my employment situation with the Fund,” reads the memo titled “Hope to see you again, maybe!”

He said Patrick Ayota will act in that position until further notice “as you may have seen from the press release from the Acting Board Chairman”.

“It has been an absolute pleasure working with you all to make the Fund a fantastic place to learn and work. I am pretty confident that you will maintain the current momentum aimed at making the Fund the premium social security provider of choice. Remember, what has gotten us here is doing the right thing for the benefit of the member, all the time. If you deviate from that, you will soon see the results!”

He congratulated Ayota for being appointed for another five years as the Deputy Managing Director and for now taking over the mantle to achieve the strategic objectives “we have set over the last couple of years”.

“Don’t forget the significantly changed legal environment that enables us to aim for the sky in pleasing the member. Hope we can meet again, maybe!”

Background

In a July 22 letter quoted by Daily Monitor, the minister of Gender, Labour and Social Development, Betty Amongi, asked Byarugaba to leave office on the basis that he has attained the retirement age (60).

Amongi, who is the co-political overseer of the Fund alongside her Finance counterpart Matia Kasaija, said under the Public Service Standing Order and NSSF Human Resource Policy, Byarugaba, like his deputy Patrick Ayota did, should have automatically retired on clocking 60 years.

“… I note that the deputy managing director heeded to the law and retired, and I have appointed him on [a fixed two-year] contract. You have, however, not officially retired although, by law, your retirement is mandatory and automatic upon attainment of the retirement age of 60 years. Note that all actions you take now, on behalf of the Fund, are not protected by any law and can be challenged. This is dangerous for the operations of the Fund and I cannot continue to put the Fund at risk without addressing the matter,” she wrote.

However, in a Thursday statement, Amongi renewed Ayota’s tenure as NSSF deputy Managing Director and appointed him to serve as the Managing Director on a caretaker basis.

“The processes leading to the appointment of the Managing Director have taken longer and in the interim, the Deputy Managing Director will caretake the office until these processes are concluded,” reads a statement released by Patrick Ocailap, the Deputy Secretary to the Treasury on behalf of the chairperson of the NSSF board.