Mukono-based commercial farmer Hannington Nkayivu has emerged winner of the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) Friends with Benefits Season 2 competition, walking away with shs30million.
This was announced during the competition’s grand finale held at Kampala Serena Hotel on Thursday, March 22, 2018.
The NSSF Friends with Benefits competition is a financial literacy campaign aimed at promoting a savings culture in Uganda, and profiles NSSF beneficiaries who received their savings and used them to transform their lives, their family or their community.
Nkayivu, who won 35.40% of the total votes, wants to complete construction of his rental houses and hopes to make at least Shs1.5 million monthly in rent collections.
He says this now will be his alternative retirement package to replace his NSSF savings now that he has already withdrawn all of his pension.
The first runner-up was Judith Sheenah Komuhangi, a cancer survivor turned cancer early testing and treatment activist, who won shs15m and hopes to use the prize money to boost her medi-tourism start up.
Her company helps other people with life threatening illnesses to seek affordable medical care abroad especially in India where she received cancer treatment after cashing out her NSSF benefits.
James Ajal emerged the second runner up. He walked away with a shs10 million cash prize that he says will help him expand his fruit processing business, expand his livestock business to separate the diary business from the meat/beef business.
The other finalists included; Nabendeh Wamoto, Naikumi Mary, Akula Ssubi, John Byabashaija, Alice Arinaitwe and Boniventure Rwakira.
The Friends with Benefits initiative was started in 2016 to promote a savings and investments culture among Ugandans who statistics have indicated have a bad savings culture or lack good financial discipline. For example, it was established that about 80% of people who take out their NSSF savings have nothing to show for it after just one year because of poor investment decisions or no investment at all.
“The Friends with Benefits show has been a success for the Fund and for the public. Since the show started, we have realized a spike in the number of voluntary savers with NSSF registering over 5,800 individual savers contributing about 5.8 billion shillings in collections,” said NSSF MD Richard Byarugaba adding that as the show picks even more momentum, we shall see more growth in the number of voluntary savers with NSSF and a better savings culture overall for the general public.
The show format saw hundreds of contestants submit stories of how they used their NSSF savings, after which they were vetted and reduced to 16 finalists whose stories were aired on TV, standing a chance to win the 30 million grand prize.
The final 9 contestants were voted by both the public and the show’s judges with the public vote carrying 70% in weight and the judges’ decision accounting for 30%.
