By Our Reporter,
BUSINESS
The Commissioner General of Prisons, Can. Dr. Johnson Byabashaija, recently hosted a delegation from Stanbic Bank, a member of the Standard Bank Group led by Kevin Wingfield, Head of Personal and Private Banking (PPB) for East and West African regions.
Talks centered on strengthening partnerships, enhancing financial solutions, and rolling out key initiatives to support the financial well-being of prison officers across all ranks.
Dr. Byabashaija warmly welcomed the delegation and commended the bank’s ongoing efforts to improve staff welfare through financial literacy programs. Highlighting the importance of professional development he directed that a financial literacy training curriculum be developed at the Prisons Academy and Training School as a core component of basic and professional growth for prisons staff.
He also requested the bank to strengthen its support for prison station-based Savings and Credit Cooperative Organizations (SACCOs) and Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLAs) to enhance income security, transparency, and efficiency.
The partnership between the Uganda Prisons Service and Stanbic Bank has already yielded significant results.
Over the past decade, the bank has trained over 54,000 prison officers and their spouses across 19 regions in financial literacy with the main aim of empowering them to make smarter decisions about their money, donated medical equipment like mama kits, a modern delivery bed etc to the Luzira Prison staff Clinic under the bank’s Corporate Society for Safe Motherhood (CSSM),
CSSM is a partnership-led initiative that promotes improved maternal healthcare in Uganda. The bank has also sponsored sports activities, and planted over 3,000 hardwood trees at regional stations as part of its corporate social responsibility efforts.
The Stanbic financial literacy programmes cover how to manage 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.
Wingfield outlined the bank’s vision, structure, and focus areas, reaffirming its commitment to supporting the Prisons Service.
Samuel Fredrick. Mwogeza, Executive Director and Head of PPB at the bank echoed these sentiments noting the success of previous financial literacy initiatives. He presented a framework for a long-term financial partnership including tailored product offerings for prison officers.
Among the bank’s short-term proposals are the rollout of medical and life insurance under the Afya Plan, a group-savings platform that helps micro-savings groups pool resources to be able to afford health care services, and the integration of financial literacy into the induction process for new staff.
Going forward, Stanbic Bank unveiled ambitious long-term plans, including a structured housing and mortgage scheme for officers, expanded financial support for staff families and businesses and the introduction of a scholarship program for the children of prison staff.
