In finance, courage often takes the form of refusing to take the easy route. DPF Uganda FD Dr Michael Lugemwa, HEVA Fund FD Dr Karimi Ngeera and Baylor Foundation Uganda FD Marie Nassiwa Martin speak to CFO East Africa about the decisions that tested their values.
Years before she joined Baylor Foundation Uganda as finance director, Marie Nassiwa-Martin once faced a situation that could have destroyed the credibility of the organisation she worked for. A funding shortfall had left a gap that could only be closed by writing off about $42 million in revenue. Many urged her to delay the move, hoping the accounts would balance over time. But she decided to record the loss immediately and negotiate with lenders to keep the institution afloat.
“We made a decision to recognise the loss because hiding it would only make the problem worse. Integrity is not about convenience. I knew it would be painful, but we had to face it and rebuild from there. Once the banks saw our honesty, they were willing to work with us,” she explains.
The months that followed tested every skill she had. She spent days in meetings explaining the decision and writing waiver letters to reassure partners. The process forced her to confront how fragile trust can be. In hindsight, she calls it the hardest and most necessary choice of her career.
“When you make a hard call, you feel the weight immediately, but later you see its strength. Our auditors commended the decision, and the lenders stayed with us. That experience reminded me that courage is not loud. It is the small voice that says, do the right thing anyway,” she says.
Steady inner voice
For HEVA Fund finance director Dr Karimi Ngeera, courage meant walking away from stability. At the time, she had a secure job and a predictable career path. But one morning, she woke up at 5:00am with the niggling feeling that she needed to leave. Three months later, she resigned without another offer lined up, determined to find a job that aligned with her values.
“I wrote the resignation letter and gave three months’ notice without knowing what would come next. People said I was being reckless, but I felt peaceful because it was the right thing for me. Exactly three months later, the role at HEVA Fund came, and it was everything I had hoped for,” she reveals.
At HEVA, she now helps creative entrepreneurs access finance in an industry that is largely unstructured. Through this, she learned the value of being brave in the midst of uncertainty.
“Leaving without a plan showed me that control is not the same as confidence. You can only see the next step once you take it. I learnt to trust that inner voice that says move, even when logic says stay. Courage gave me direction when everything else felt uncertain,” she says.
Refusing to give up
At Uganda’s Deposit Protection Fund, Dr Michael Lugemwa was faced with a long-outstanding tax claim worth Ush17 billion. Most people in the organisation believed the monies were not recoverable. But Michael decided to reopen the case, digging through years of documentation to prove the Fund’s claim.
“It took months of analysis, meetings, and evidence gathering. We were told to leave it alone, but I believed we had a strong case. We built our argument piece by piece until the URA agreed to the refund,” he says.
This victory reinforced Michael’s willingness to defend what is right even when the process is tedious. His persistence also reminded him that every major change often begins with someone refusing to give up.
“Courage in our field is not about taking wild risks. It is about staying the course when results are slow. You have to believe in your analysis and in the principles that guide you. That is how finance earns its place at the table,” he explains.
