Gone too soon

Mr Kayondo was a seasoned businessman with nearly 40 years’ experience. Mr Kayondo who was the managing director of Ever Based Tours &Travel Ltd had also been chairman of KACITA since 2010, and a trustee of the KACITA Uganda Provident Fund, which was established and operationalised in March 2019. 

For the Uganda Retirement Benefits Regulatory Authority (URBRA), Covid-19 claimed an ambassador who put matters of retirement planning and saving high on the agenda. Covid19 robbed the pensions sector of Mr Everest Kayondo.

Getting people to voluntarily save for retirement is a daunting task. It requires intense, unceasing public education, change in mindsets and behaviours. For a saving culture to grow, it requires role models and champions, and it is something of a decadal process. So, when URBRA got an ambassador like Mr Kayondo, they hoped that he would be around long enough to see the fruits of his tireless efforts.

Relentless crusader

Just before the second lockdown was imposed on June 5th, URBRA planned to hold sensitisation and ideation meetings with representatives of the informal sector. The purpose was to inspire them to appreciate the need for retirement saving. Those representatives would then be deployed as ambassadors to spread the message further, and inspire their peers to follow suit.

The first meeting was set for June 4th and the other for June 11th. Mr Kayondo was set to be one of the key speakers. He had specifically been requested to share knowledge, experience and tips on how to plan and save for retirement. Ever willing to share and inspire, Mr Kayondo had confirmed participation.

Alas, the meetings were not to be! We realised it was becoming more and more risky to hold a gathering of any size. We wrote an email to Mr. Kayondo expressing URBRA’s deep regret for cancelling the meeting and promised to confirm a new date as soon as normalcy returned. In his usual graceful, positive and reassuring way, he replied, “this is understandable. I will wait for a new date.”

But the new date never came!

Earlier in May, URBRA had secured airtime on different radio stations. In the spirit of promoting sector development by engaging sector actors, URBRA had requested Mr. Kayondo to be a panelist on the radio talk shows, promoting retirement saving especially among the informal sector workers who have no structured saving plan. Again, the indefatigable Kayondo obliged. He did a series of talk shows and carried the message – save for retirement, avoid old-age poverty!

On May 1, to commemorate International Labour Day, URBRA sponsored a live talk show on a local television. The talk show centred on the need to keep saving for retirement despite the rampaging Covid-19. The show was meant to reassure Ugandans that the Covid-19 storm would soon run out of rain and normalcy would return; that many would survive the pandemic and live to see their retirement date; that people need not lose hope and should continue preparing for old age, because it will come. Again, Mr Kayondo was one of the panelists.

On many other occasions, Mr Kayondo took time out of his very busy schedule to participate in activities promoting retirement saving for informal sector workers. He continuously encouraged members of the KACITA Provident Fund to save for retirement. His commitment to the cause never wavered!

He said it in many ways, but his message was always consistent: “”Develop a saving culture; don’t spend before your save; always have a budget; you don’t have to be rich to save, start with as little as Shs1,000.”

Voice for informal sector workers

He often reminded us that a majority of the workforce in Uganda is employed in the informal sector, hence they don’t have a formal saving structure. It is therefore our duty to help those Ugandans access the products available for retirement saving. “What are the current interventions, by the regulator and other sector players, to ensure that informal sector workers prepare for retirement?” Kayondo constantly asked. The challenge remains!

When World Helth Organisation declared Covid19 a pandemic in March 2020, Mr Kayondo made a clarion call to city traders to be cautious and suspend planned business trips especially to China. For a person who owned a leading travel bureau, that would have amounted to shooting oneself in the foot, but he knew what the world was up against.

Sadly, this unforgiving disease claimed him.

Business icon

Aside from retirement saving, Mr Kayondo was involved in many other causes, highlighting the plight of informal sector workers, especially traders. While he was chairperson of KACITA, his influence was felt at a national scale – for which trader in Uganda doesn’t do business in Kampala? They come from as far as the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan, Rwanda to do business in Kampala. Therefore, Mr Kayondo was a national figure in his own right.

Uganda has lost a dedicated servant. KACITA has lost a dedicated member. The retirement benefits sector has lost a dedicated ambassador. 

As they say of those who plant trees today, their works will benefit future generations. Mr Kayondo planted a tree and future generations will enjoy the shade. There’s no doubt that his message of retirement saving will resound for a long time to come. We shall take comfort in the good work he did for the retirement benefits sector and the whole country.

Who was he?

Business icon

Everest Kayondo was a teacher-turned entrepreneur/businessman. In between the two careers, he added on another qualification in accountancy.

He ventured into business about three decades ago with initial capital of Shs30, 000 which he saved from transport refunds, teaching and book allowances that would be provided to students in higher education of learning by the then government.

Fare thee well Mr Everest Kayondo.

By Lydia Mirembe     

The author is the manager corporate and public affairs  at Uganda Retirement Benefits Regulatory Authority.