Senior Security Officers Lectured On Financial Development

Uganda Today: ESO, ISO, UPDF, Police  Officers  Lectured  On  Financial  Literacy  And  Person Development

 By Our Reporter

Senior security officers have been called upon to embrace financial literacy and personal development in order to live comfortable lives during their retirement.

The guidance was made to them by Dr. Sylvia Tumuheirwe Arinaitwe the deputy managing director of National Water and Sewerage Cooperation during her lecture to senior officers attending a political education and development course at the National Leadership Institute Kyankwanzi on December 13, 2023. The participants were drawn from External Security Organization (ESO), Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) and Uganda Police Force (UPF).

Tumuheirwe who holds a doctorate in business administration from Commonwealth University, UK, defined financial literacy as the ability to process financial information and make informed decisions about personal finance. She added that like any other human being, the security officers need financial literacy in order to better the quality of their lives, plan their retirement, achieve personal development, enhance personal image and also contribute to the society they live in.

Tumuheirwe amplified the need for financial literacy because research shows that out of 100 employed, at the time of retirement only one is rich, 49 become dependent on family and charity; 29 die, 12 are broke, 4 are financially independent and 5 keep working for a bid to survive.

Tumuheirwe who obtained her Masters Degree in business administration from Mastricht School of Management from the Netherlands brought the attention of the participants to the indicators of lack of financial literacy. They include poor saving culture, too much debt/ credit, increasing poverty, failure to pay due bills, increased lack of creativity and innovation, continuous reduction in income, low personal income and corruption.

Also during the lecture, she drew the participants to Sim’s model on understanding financial literacy. The six part model guides on income, credit, spending, investing, saving and money management.

Regarding income, she defined it as money or equivalent received in exchange for labour, sale of goods or profit from investment. She guided that for one to increase income, a person must invest time into money making activities, change attitude about money and do side business.

On money management, Tumuheirwe described it as the way you control money; decisions one makes about his or her money. She cited tips on money management such as spending less than what you earn, paying one’s bills on time, prioritise one’s requirements on essentials and non-essentials, among other tips. She also implored the security officers to uphold Sim’s concept of investing (Committing money or capital) in order to gain financial return. She brought their attention to the reasons why people fail to invest. These include fear to kissing our life savings goodbye, fear of risk, fear of looking foolish when we lose money and ignorance on how investing works.

Also under Sim’s model, she explained the importance of having an investment plan. She guided them on investment plan demands defining one’s investment portfolio, business, bonds, treasury bills, saving schemes. She also guided that investing requires one to have business mentors, business partners and investing in further learning.

Tumuheirwe who is also a UK certified Chartered Accountant lectured on saving, which is income not spent or deferred consumption. She cited methods of saving to include putting money aside in a bank or pension plan. She pointed out that people generally fail to save because of life style, attitude, lack of vision / goal / target, lack of examples/role models and indiscipline in spending.

Tumuheirwe who also holds a Bachelor’s Degree of Commerce from Makerere University, warned senior officers about reckless spending (wasting away money) she advised them on how to avoid reckless spending by spending less than one earns, prioritizing things to spend on, and not to be excited about abnormal earnings. She also lectured senior officers on things to do to manage credit, such as developing a debt settlement plan and stick to it, not to incur further debt, unscrupulous credit counselors that demand cash upfront or high fees for help they promise, but don’t deliver, avoid using new higher interest rate loans to pay off lower interest rate loans.

At the end of Tumuheirwe’s presentation, she was thanked for her brilliant presentation by the director of the National Leadership Institute Kyankwanzi, Brig. Gen. Charles Kisembo. She also had a group photo with senior officers she lectured.