Former NSSF boss Byarugaba lands key State House role

President Yoweri Museveni has appointed former National Social Security Fund (NSSF) managing director Richard Patrick Byarugaba as senior presidential advisor on exports and industrial development. The President said the appointment will help the exports secretariat in his office deliver better results.

Museveni also named Moses Sabiti to the same advisory role.

Byarugaba is a seasoned business executive, banker, and entrepreneur. Since August 14, 2025, he has served as chairman of Old Mutual Investment Group Uganda. He previously led NSSF, a semi-autonomous pension body for private sector workers, from November 2017 to November 2022.

Born in 1961 in western Uganda, Byarugaba studied statistics and economics at Makerere University. He later qualified as an accountant with the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants in the United Kingdom and earned a management diploma from Henley Management College.

He built much of his career in banking. He joined Standard Chartered Bank Uganda in 1983 as a banking officer and rose to executive director for finance by 1992. Two years later, he moved to the bank’s London headquarters as regional finance manager for Africa.

Byarugaba returned to Uganda in 1997 and joined Nile Bank Limited. He became managing director in 2003. When Barclays acquired the bank in 2007, he transitioned to Barclays Bank Uganda as chief operating officer.

In 2008, he was appointed managing director of Global Trust Bank Uganda, a position he held until 2010 before moving to NSSF.

Beyond banking, Byarugaba has supported several professional and health institutions, including Hospice Africa, the Palliative Care Association of Uganda, and the Uganda Institute of Banking and Financial Services. He also served as treasurer of the Uganda Bankers Association.