The pension sector in Uganda; an analysis of the commercial viability of real estate investment opportunities.

Abstract

In the traditional Ugandan society, aged parents look up to their children for support and this is one reason that the average numbers of children in Ugandan homes are usually more than those of their counterparts in more developed countries. The home is therefore the bedrock of provision for the old. This arrangement therefore instates the role of a pension scheme on a less final setting. It would be appropriate at this juncture to briefly give the meaning of a pension. A pension can be defined as a series of regular payments provided by government or former employer for a person who has come to the end of his normal working life. It is an income during retirement at its most basic level. 1(Tatyana Bogomolova, An Assessment Of Reform Options For The, 2004) The history of pension world-wide can be traced to Germany 2(Njuguna, 2010). The Former German Chancellor Otto Von Bismarck was credited for enacting a compulsory savings programme for workers in large firms who were exposed to the socialism ideologies in 1889. The Republic of Uganda became a signatory of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) on the 21st January, 1987. Article 9 of ICESCR requires State Parties to recognize the right of everyone to social security and social insurance. Pensions form part of social insurance programs because they pool risks with a view to pay a benefit to qualifying members as may be stated in some law or instrument creating the program. States which are signatories to ICESCR are required to recognize the right to social insurance by creating an enabling economic and legal environment which will enable the realization of the positive right.