Old Mutual Investment Group appoints former NSSF MD Richard Byarugaba as Board Chairman; names Charles Ernest Hamya to its Board

Old Mutual Investment Group has unveiled a strengthened governance bench with two strategic appointments: veteran financial services executive Richard Patrick Byarugaba as Board Chairman, and seasoned corporate leader Charles Ernest Hamya as a member on the Board of Directors. 

The dual move adds deep domain expertise across pensions, banking, investment management, media, and SME finance positioning Old Mutual to accelerate product innovation and deliver stronger outcomes for savers and institutions.

Byarugaba, who recently completed his tenure as Board Chair of the Uganda Securities Exchange, brings 30+ years of regional leadership spanning banking, social security, and investments. 

He is best known for his stewardship of the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) Uganda, where assets under management rose from USD 600 million to USD 4.7 billion, an almost eightfold expansion powered by a sweeping digital transformation and sharpened operational discipline.

He also helped steer the NSSF Amendment Bill, extending pension coverage to over 10 million Ugandan workers, which remains a watershed in the country’s social-protection architecture that broadened formal retirement savings and improved long term financial security.

A governance and risk-management specialist, Byarugaba is an FCCA (UK), a Chartered Public Accountant (CPA) Uganda, holds an MBA and a BSc in Statistics & Economics, and is enrolled in the CFA Program (Level III candidate). 

The Group says his analytical rigor, collaborative leadership style, and emphasis on best practice in portfolio construction and risk oversight align with the firm’s mission to build financial wellbeing and resilience for communities across Africa.

Joining the board is Charles Ernest Hamya, who contributes 27+ years of executive leadership and governance. 

Since 2019, he has served as Director and Chair of both MultiChoice Uganda and GOtv Uganda Limited, following a rise from Chief Accountant (1997) to Country Head (from 2002), a period in which MultiChoice consolidated its market leadership in Uganda’s pay-TV industry through disciplined growth, customer-centric distribution, and locally relevant content partnerships.

Hamya’s governance footprint includes board roles with the Uganda Red Cross Society and Old Mutual Life Assurance Company (Kenya) Limited, and service on the inaugural board that guided the revival of Uganda National Airlines Company Limited. 

An entrepreneur and financier, he is Co-founder & Executive Director of HCH Financial Services Limited, a digital non-bank financial institution delivering working capital and trade finance solutions to Ugandan SMEs. 

Hamya is an FCCA (UK), a member of ICPAU, holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Accounting) from Makerere University, and has pursued executive education at Harvard Business School, Wits Business School, and the Naspers Academy. He joined OMIG’s Board in February 2025.

Continuity, gratitude, and product innovation momentum

The Group expressed appreciation to outgoing chairman Professor Samuel Sejjaaka, whose strategic guidance helped shape the Group’s long-term direction and reinforce its reputation as a trusted asset manager. 

Under Professor Sejjaaka’s stewardship, the firm launched Uganda’s first Dollar Unit Trust Collective Investment Scheme, a market milestone that expanded the menu of local investment options and gave savers a convenient foreign-currency vehicle for diversification and risk management.