George William Kwishima: I have run my race

After graduating in 1979 as a teacher, George William Kwishima spent 35 years serving as a government employee in education institutions. In 2014, he retired at 60 years.

He was born in Nyabwishenya Sub-county in Kisoro District in 1954. For his studies, he went to Nyarutembe Primary School, in Kisoro District.

Later, he compleh (double main), diploma in Secondary Education and Master of Education at Makerere University.

Kwishima taught at Kigezi College Butobere, Maryhted Senior Four at St Mary’s College Rushoroza, in Kabale District and Senior Six at Ntare School, in Mbarara District. He attained his degree in Englisill High School, and Katatumba Academy.
He worked at Nyamitanga Technical Institute as an instructor from 1995 to 2014.

He now works as an assistant diocesan education secretary, Mbarara Archdiocese .

His salary was meagre, Kwishima earned Shs1,560 per month during his early years of employment. This was inadeduate to cater for food, clothes and support some of his family members.

Being the first born of the family who had earned an education, he concentrated on looking after his siblings. Later, he married at the age of 37 years.
At 40, three years into marriage, he thought about retirement and how he would sustainably provide for his family.
“I saw retirement fast approaching. I decided to acquire a loan and buy land in Nyakayojo situated in Rwampara, Mbarara District to grow food for my family,” Kwishima recalls.

Kwishima got a second job (assistant diocesan education secretary) when he was teaching at Nyamitanga Technical Institute located on the same hill as the Archdiocese. The office is charged with education affairs in schools of Catholic foundation in the 10 districts of Ankole.
“With this job, they even gave me accommodation. I was able to benchmark and learn how to make my family survive. I was able to buy another plot of land in (the neighbouring) Ruti and establish a home,” says Kwishima.

The problem of settling down late
Marrying late comes with its setbacks.
At 64, Kwishima has a daughter in Senior One at Maryhill High School and a son at university. Looking after children in old age can be stressful especially if one did not invest in income generating projects during active employment.
“For us Africans we do not give birth to one child, if you marry late, it means by the time you retire your children will still be in school. It is better to retire when you have finishedpaying school fees. I am able to pay fees now because I have this job and my family is not as big,” he says.
Kwishima adds, “After 60 years, opportunistic ailments set in, then, you need money to spend in hospitals, and you pay school fees with strain.” The pension and gratuity are not sure means of self-sustainability.

Invest in projects
Kwishima is yet to get his gratuity five years after retirement because of the bureaucracy. Though he gets monthly pension, the returns are not sufficient because of inflation.
“Those in active service should make sacrifices and invest their money in income generating projects such as banana plantations, forests, and dairy farming or any other business they can easily supervise,” says Kwishima.
He adds that, “this helps one to remain active in their retirement, earn income and get to self-actualisation. You get some sense of achievement in old age. It is bad to regret your active life, you get depressed,” he explains.
For those that cannot afford huge retirement projects, they can opt for smaller projects such as beekeeping, mushroom growing, knitting and Fine Art.

His typical day
He wakes up at 6am, prays and listens to international and local news. He goes to his office at 8am and leaves at 5 pm.
Kwishima is a Rotarian and an active leader in self-help initiatives in the community. Such keeps him busy when he is not at work.
He is satisfied not because he accumulated wealth during active employment but because he did great service in teaching.
“When I look back at my active life, I am satisfied that I did a very good job. If you have touched lives of many people, they will keep appreciating you and that’s very satisfying to me,” says Kwishima.
He adds, “If in retirement you are still touching lives of people of all walks of life, when you see your children and grandchildren grow, it is a job well done especially if they have been successful.”

Advice to others
He advises individuals not to over stress themselves during their retirement years.
“If you want to enjoy retirement, be satisfied with what you have and what you have done. In life you can’t achieve everything, accept yourself as you are and be thankful to God for being alive,” says Kwishima.
He says there are a lot of injustices and exploitation in society nowadays compared to the past and there is seemingly no human solution that will reverse the situation.
“Politics is confusing; there is a lot of exploitation of the poor by the rich. The powerful want to swallow the weak; the poor neither have a voice nor an opportunity to be listened to; it is a man eat man society, we can only pray to God,” Kwishima says.
With his wife Jovita Nsenga, they have four children. Two sons have completed school.
One has a degree in Computer Science and another is a graduate of Art and Industrial Design. The third born is pursuing a degree in Computer Science and the last born is still in high school.
He has also been able to educate his siblings, in-laws and nephews.

About Kwishima’s income
He used to earn Shs700,000 per month as a teacher. He now earns Shs1m as assistant diocesan education secretary per month. His other source of income is pension (about Shs500,000 per month). He acquired Shs4m for buying three acres of land in Nyakayojo in 1994 where he set up a banana planation.
“I don’t have any other source of income (other than my current job and pension). We get food from our banana planation. I am satisfied and comfortable with what I have,” Kwishima says.