The Uganda People Defence Force (UPDF) ‘s Chieftaincy of Pension and Gratuity has commenced the Retirement Sensitisation and Documentation Exercise of 159 of 162 Senior Officers under Batch 13 B at Non-Commissioned Officers Academy (NCOA) Jinja.
Batch 13 B will see a total of 162 Officers retired from the Uganda Peoples’ Defence Forces. These will include; Five (5) Generals, Thirty-Six (36) Colonels, Eighty-Two (82) Lieutenant Colonels and Forty-One (41) Majors on April 30th, 2024.
The Generals are: Maj Gen Fred Tolit, the former Defence Adviser of Uganda in South Africa, Brig Gen Eugene Ssebugwawo currently Coordinator of Disaster Preparedness at the Office of the Prime Minister, Brig Gen Emmanuel Rwashande currently UPDF Chief of Civil-Military Cooperation, Brig Gen Jessy Kamunanwire serving under Uganda Police and Brig Max Gumisiriza formally Commandant of Peace Support Centre Singo.
The Deputy Chief of Personnel and Administration Brigadier Godfrey Kawesa Kigozi, urged the retirees to use this retirement stretch of their life diligently by sticking to their retirement plan and keeping an active connection with the UPDF serving comrades and reminded them that retirement is not rejection from the forces but giving them a chance to engage in other economic activities in a civilian way.
Brig Kigozi cautioned them that it is not easy to adjust from command position but they should be ready to abide by their respective community authorities.
He encouraged them not to be afraid to engage in community leadership through Local Councils and Parliamentary Seats as long as they do not promote vices like sectarianism, segregation, and tribalism among others.
Col Deborah Nayebare Deputy Chief of Pension and Gratuity assured the retirees not to worry about the security of their pension remunerations as the government waved off any form of tax.
The Commandant NCOA Col Robert Rutayinama congratulated the officers upon reaching the milestone in their UPDF career journey and encouraged the retirees to embrace retirement with positive emotions, not as a punishment and encouraged them to wisely invest their hard-earned pension and gratuity.
On behalf of the Ministry of Defence and Veteran Affairs, the Principal Human Resource Officer Mr. William Enyimu called upon the retirees to ably determine their retirement spending needs such as accommodation, medical, transport, dependents, and 70%-80% of pre-retirement needs.
He guided them to consider the basic investment principles (Where to Invest, how to invest, what to invest and the level of the risk, master the economic cash flow and asset acquisition.
