Prison Officers and their spouses will get free financial literacy training from one of Uganda’s leading banks Stanbic Bank Uganda. The program is designed to enhance the prison officers personal economic progress.
The programme which was launched on Wednesday by Stanbic Bank in partnership with the Uganda Prisons Authority, follows discussions between Johnson Byabashaijja, the Commissioner General of Uganda Prisons and Anne Juuko, the Stanbic Chief Executive.
Israel Arinaitwe, the Head of Private and Personal Banking, who represented Juuko at the launch said the new initiative aligns with the lender’s purpose which is , ‘Uganda is our home; we drive her growth.’ Arinaitwe stated ; “we made a commitment to the Commissioner General to provide free financial literacy training to all staff of Uganda Prisons and their spouses across the country. This includes all five regions of Uganda and the 49 prisons.”
Arinaitwe said the programme aims to benefit 52,416 officers and their families with the main aim of empowering them to make smarter decisions about their money.
Ali Lwanga the Stanbic Bank Kampala Metropolitan area Regional Manager said that through conversations with the prisons leadership, a number of issues were identified. These included managing multiple loans, dealing with financial burdens from extended families, coping with financial struggles arising from redundant families and children, limited access to proper medical care, and prioritizing expenditure on a small government salary among others.
“Through the series of financial literacy clinics, we plan to conduct, we will address these financial pain points, provide practical solutions and guidance that will empower the prisons fraternity to overcome these challenges,” Lwanga stated.
Stanbic Bank also pledged to provide a special and swift financial partnership waiver that will allow subsidizing interest rates on different financial products for all the prisons officers country wide.
Stella Nabulya, the Commissioner of Prisons, Kampala Extra Region hailed Stanbic Bank for providing this opportunity to acquire new skills and transform lives of staff for the better. She noted that a good number of prison officers struggle with issues related to financial management.
“After today, I know the lives of our officers and their spouses will not remain the same as the topics and experiences being shared here are timely. During my time in office, I have witnessed several civil savants, including those from the Prisons Service, retire into absolute poverty. With this brotherly intervention, I’m exceedingly optimistic that the script is indeed going to change.”
Charles Ocici, the Executive Director of the training consultancy, Enterprise Uganda who will lead the programme, said the issue of managing wealth has been a big challenge to many people no matter their ranks or level of education.
He advised Prisons staff to stay away from mediocrity and other unethical behaviour if they want to have financial independence. “There are basic principles everyone in employment need to respect if he or she dream of making a financial breakthrough. First, time management; how do you manage the 16 hours out of office daily? This matters because what you always do will shape your character and shape your competencies.
“Again, you also need to use the eight hours you spend in office to build your competencies which will make you more productive during the 16 hours,” Ocici added. He cited lack of planning, keeping bad company and lack of discipline as some of the factors keeping many people in perpetual poverty.
Nelson Kasada, the Programmes Manager at the Stanbic Business Incubator spoke on the training opportunities the bank offers to support small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
“In your free time, come to the Business Incubator in Kololo and learn more at no cost. We offer enterprise development training aimed at enhancing local SMEs’ capacities and promote business resilience and sustainability,” he said.
