Minister Asks Cooperatives to Form their Own Bank

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State Minister for Cooperatives, Hon. Frederick Gume Ngobi has advised cooperative unions to form their own bank so as to compete favourably.

“Be dynamic, and react to your problems spontaneously. You cannot keep referring to the Bible verse which says, the way it is in the beginning; so shall it always be at the end. We are living in a new era of a liberalised economy,” he said, adding:

“I will keep reminding you to form your own bank. The commercial banks have profits, yet for you, you have savings.”

“With your own bank, it will be easier for your members to access credit,” the Minister said.

Hon. Gume was addressing delegates attending the 44th Annual General Meeting of the Uganda Cooperative Savings and Credit Union (UCSCU) held at the Grand Imperial Hotel on 28 September 2018.

Some cooperators have welcomed the idea to form a new bank, saying that cooperatives have the ability to mobilise ample resources.

Mr. Sylivester Ndiroramukama, the CEO of UCSCU said, “This is long overdue. We can mobilise ourselves and raise resources. If every institution buys shares in the bank, we will be able to raise enough.”

Mr. Ndiroramukama said that cooperatives should start the process, and government can support later. He maintained that emphasis should be on ownership, for proper administration and control. Mr. Ndiroramukama further advised that it is important for the name of the bank to change, so that it does not inherit the liabilities of the defunct cooperative bank.

Access to affordable credit remains a challenge for many cooperatives, especially start-up farmer cooperatives in rural areas, which cannot meet the stringent terms of commercial banks.

Yet for a while now, there have been several discussions pertaining to the revival of the defunct cooperative bank, with minimal substantive action.

In 2018, a feasibility study was conducted by Uganda Cooperative Alliance (UCA). UCA General Secretary, CPA Ivan Asiimwe has advised that the best way to revive the Cooperative Bank is through initial 100% financing by government and gradual divestiture to cooperatives and the public, once the bank has stabilized.

The Cooperative Bank was dissolved in 1999. A liquidation report for the defunct bank has hitherto not been produced by Bank of Uganda.

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Teso Fruit Factory to Be Commissioned at End of October 2018

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By Alexander Okori,

Soroti

The long awaited multi-billion Teso fruit factory is set to be commissioned this month, October 2018. To boost returns through increased bargaining power, citrus farmers have been urged to form cooperatives.

“I appeal to farmers to form cooperatives in their districts and sub-counties. These will in turn have citrus collection centres where buyers will come at specific days,” said Mr. Jorem Opian, the Chairman of Teso Tropical Fruit Cooperative Union.

While speaking at a meeting with citrus farmers in September 2018, Mr. Opian said many farmers sell their citrus individually during market days, and fetch low returns due to exploitation by middlemen.

“I have seen brokers buying oranges at Soroti market, where many farmers sell a 100 kilogram sack at average of Shs. 25000-30000, which is comparatively low. If those farmers sold their oranges per kilogram, they would probably fetch twice the price,” said Mr. Opian.

The establishment of the factory has been an ongoing project since 2015 and many have expressed concern over the delay in schedule.

In September 2018, Minister for Trade, Industry and Cooperatives, Hon. Amelia Kyambadde reaffirmed government’s commitment to ensure that the factory begins commercial production in late October 2018. The Minister was speaking during a ceremony to hand over 40 mechanical spray pumps to Teso Tropical Fruit Cooperative Union.

“The factory is expected to process; over six metric tons of oranges per hour, two metric tonnes of mangoes per hour and four metric tonnes of pineapple per hour, amounting to 648,000 tonnes of oranges per year and 25,000 tonnes of mangoes per year,” said Hon. Kyambadde.

The Minister said the objective of the project is to increase the incomes of the fruit farmers by providing readily accessible and fairly priced market.

Teso sub region has three million fruit trees with a potential production of 600,000 metric tonnes of fruit per year.

The contracted fruit supplier for the factory is Teso Tropical Fruit Cooperative Union yet their current supply does not meet the factory demand. Herein lies the opportunity for cooperatives.

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SACCO Leaders Welcome the Establishment of Local Committees to Promote Accountability

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By Egessa Hajusu,

Busia

Mr. Sam Lwande, the Manager of Lumino SACCO has welcomed the establishment of local problem solving committees, to aid the work of the Inspectorate of Government, at the district levels.

This, he said, will help SACCOs to recover stolen money and also serve as a deterrent measure to those planning to steal cooperative funds. Mr. Lwande attributed the collapse of some Savings and Credit Cooperatives (SACCOs) to; poor record keeping and accountability, envy, and poor leadership.

“Perpetrators of this abuse that is sometimes met with impunity will be addressed by the problem solving committees at the district,” said Mr. Lwande in a telephone interview with the Cooperator.

While speaking at a boardroom meeting in Busia district during the anti-corruption week, Mr. George Bamugemereire, the Deputy Inspector General of Government (IGG) said the IGG has embarked on measures of engaging all stakeholders in the fight against corruption. Mr. Bamugemereire said local governments have been asked to set up local problem handling mechanisms to facilitate the work of the Inspectorate of Government.

“Even if the government gives us all resources to have the man power we need we cannot be all over the country and this calls for the need to have informed citizens that can detect mal administration, wastage of resources and prevent it before it happens,” Mr. Bamugemereire said.

“Districts should therefore put in place local problem handling committees to address corruption cases in salaries, pension, recruitment, procurement among others. This will give the residents fast customer care and minimise long distance travel to the regional offices and Kampala to report corruption cases,” he added.

Mr. Lwande noted that the IGG’s word is not final and appealed to Parliament to pass an enabling law to make the committees operational. “Those committees are long overdue,” he said.

The Busia district acting chairperson asked Ugandans to learn to be accountable at all times. He said accountability is about doing thing the right way than providing receipts.

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Lango Cooperatives Bag Shs 2.7 Billion

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Lango cooperatives have cashed over shs 2.72 billion in sunflower production.

Ngetta Tropical Holdings (NTH), the producer of Virgin Gold cooking oil based in Lira is working with farmer cooperatives, to provide guaranteed market for sunflower seeds. The cooperatives are planting Agsun 8251 sunflower seeds which are imported from South Africa and sold to the farmers at a fair price.

With the unpredictable weather conditions in some parts of the country, there are numerous outcries from farmers, with regard to the impact of weather conditions on the quantity and quality of harvest.

However, for over 40 farmer cooperatives in Northern Uganda especially in Lango region which registered viable production of Agsun 8251 during the first season this year, their story is positive.

MARKET

Not like alarms made on maize price, these cooperatives produce with ready market set by NTH at a price of 1,100 shillings per kilo.

Mr. Enyang George, the Manager, Production & Special Projects at Ngetta Tropical Holdings who spoke to this news site revealed that since 1 July 2018 there are 2,473,000 tons of grains in stock, only bought from the members of cooperatives.

Mr. Enyang said these cooperatives were able to cash in over 2.72 billion shillings for the Agsun 8251 grains they produced and sold to NTH.

“Farmers should produce, store and market together” says Mr. Enyang for our community to realize the strength of a cooperative.

Lapul and Puranga farmer cooperatives in Pader are amongst the cooperatives dealing in this production alongside over 40 others in Lango.

In addition to sunflower, the cooperatives are involved in production of other crops.

Virgin Gold Cooking Oil, accredited by UNBS was launched on 16 August 2018.

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Youths take the next step to form a cooperative

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Egessa Hajusu

The unfavorable economic conditions in the country, have compelled a section of youths in the shoe making industry in Kampala to turn their businesses into a cooperative.

“The current system of capitalism has done more harm than good,” said adding the system has increased income disparity and depressed the country’s development.

Otafire is a twenty five years old graduate in ethics and human rights from Makerere University, who runs an African sandals making workshop in Kikoni Makerere, which started in 2013.

Taxes are very high, getting in business is impossible which explains why many businesses started by young entrepreneurs have collapsed, Otafire told the Cooperator in a telephone interview.

Given the tough nature of doing business it hasn’t been easy for him and his co- founder Haris Akampulira it has taken their business three years to take off.

Samples of the African sandles they make in Kikoni

Now that the business is self-sustaining, we feel it is high time we opened it up to allow 50% of young people interested in joining to buy shares so that the business can transition into a cooperative model.

He says Kampala cooperative Union as it is to be called will diversify business from industry to real estate, insurance, health and education.

“We can use the cooperative as a vehicle to get through the complex economic system in the country, so as to get space to participate in economic development.

Otafire strongly believes that given the three years’ experience of hardship they have gone through, they can achieve much if they get organised through self-help and solidarity under a cooperative.

He however, concedes that they lack knowledge on how to transition their business into a cooperative.

He says when they sought for advice they were referred to seasoned Cooperator Leonard Okello the executive director Uhuru training institute.

Otafire who is scheduled to meet Leonard Okello the executive director Uhuru Institute for Social Development, today (Monday) acknowledges that he is yarning to benefit from his wealth of experience, in the cooperative movement.

He particularly wants to know how the cooperative will work and benefit the shareholders.

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Start church bank, bishop tells Christians

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Egessa Hajusu

Church of Uganda Christians in Bukedi diocese have been encouraged to join fellow brethren county wide to start saving money to enable the church start its own Bank.

Bishop Samuel Egesa of Bukedi diocese said the Christians should start saving through the kingdom development organisation (KIDO) put in place by Church of Uganda (COU).

Egesa said savings from ten million followers of church of Uganda will make the church strong enough to run and fund its development programmes.

Savings will help the church finance its ongoing projects like health facilities, schools among others to generate more money which will result into forming of the church of Uganda’s Bank.

Church of Uganda last year launched the KIDO mobile money saving system, through which Christians are encouraged to save at least shillings 500 daily.

This will empower the church to execute its development activities without appealing to Christians all the time to contribute money which they might not have.

He asked the laity to work hard by engaging in viable economic activities to contribute to the development of the country.

The bishop consequently asked the priest not to always keep the followers in church noting this will reduce their time of working to improve their house hold incomes.

He thanked Christian for contributing generously towards the construction of the church house.

Bukedi diocese is comprised of seven district including Busia, Budaka, Butaleja, Butebo, Kibuku, Palisades and Tororo.

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Busia cooperators ask for protection

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Egessa Hajusu

Traders under Busia produce dealers’ multi-purpose cooperative society have asked the government to protect them from Kenyan counterparts.

The traders want government to stop Kenyan traders from skipping their cooperatives and enter into the interior where they buy produce directly from farmers.

“What kind of government is this, that cannot protect its traders from foreigners,” wondered trader Asuman Munubi who requested cabinet to intervene and address their concern.

They expressed disappointment that the practice has suffocated their cooperatives, kicked them out of business, leaving them with thousands of tons of produce in the stores.

Busia produce market attracts buyers from Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The traders said this during a chat with the Cooperator.

The Kenyans no longer buy from Busia produce market, when they cross the border they go as far as Soroti, Lira, Gulu, Masaka, Mubende and Mbarara among others where they spend days to buy, collect and store produce then go back to Kenya.

What angers the traders is that the Kenyan do all this without Ugandan leaders pointing a finger which is contrary to what happens when Ugandan traders go to Kenya.

The traders who deal in all types of corn and grain feared that traders from other countries will soon start emulating the Kenyans by going in the countryside and stop buying from them.

“We are now depending only on local buyer’s that mainly take small quantities for home consumption,” Peter Wandera another trader lamented.

Commenting on the issue, Oundo Ongwabe the chairperson cross border traders association (CBTA) said the Kenyan traders were violating the essence of Regional and East African Community economic integration.

Foreigners can enter into another country and buy goods from zonal markets like Busia main market but not directly from producers.

The common market should not be abused Ongwabe said, and advised the traders to get organized work collectively for their own good and stop betraying each other.

Kenyans he said have, been ushered into Uganda’s interior by the very traders who are now complaining.

The Busia Municipality Member of Parliament Geoffrey Macho said he was equally distributed. He assured the traders that government is going to find a solution to the problem.

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Cooperatives the way to go- Busia boss

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Egessa Hajusu

Sustainable development in the country will not be achieved lest cooperatives are embraced by Ugandans, the acting Busia district chairperson Paul Oguttu has said.

“You were all here during the presidential elections and you heard all candidates talking about cooperatives,” he said and encouraged the area residents to look at cooperatives as the way through the country will be developed.

Oguttu who is also the Majanji sub county councilor to the district was on Friday addressing farmers at Masaba sub county headquarters in Busia.

If all leaders at all levels are now looking at using cooperatives as a way of driving the country to the next stage in development, then what are those of you that haven’t formed cooperatives waiting for.

Take advantage of the cooperative fund which the government is increasing every financial year to form savings and credit cooperatives (SACCO’S) make your savings but also apply for loans from the micro finance support center to start business and fight poverty.

“Nobody will come from outside Uganda to develop this country,” Oguttu said, and tasked citizens who understand that it is their responsibility to develop the country to start now by forming cooperatives.

He advised the existing SACCO’S in the district to use the Trinity or (three in one) formula of owning, using and governing as the mode of managing their SACCO’s

The cooperators should emulate this formula to run their businesses because God who uses it, has never failed in his work. The Father, The Son and The Holly Spirit.

SACCO’S that operate well will be recommended by the district to the ministry of agriculture animal industry and fisheries (MAAIF) to apply for agriculture loan to enable the farmers expand business by opening up more land and acquiring inputs.

The farmers thanked Oguttu for opening their eyes and promised to start a cooperative but asked him to send for them a technical person to help them with paper work. Those that lived during the days of the cooperatives said they new the advantages and promised to mobilise the young ones into joining the cooperative.

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Court orders Nandala out of Bugisu cooperative union board

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High Court in Mbale has issued an injunction stopping Bugisu Cooperative Union (BCU) Board led by Nandala Mafabi from handling the affairs of the farmers’ group, arguing that their term of office expired.

BCU is comprised of 274 farmer groups but five of them, which Muruba, Bumatofu, Bumusabire, Bumbobi and Bukhaweka, had dragged the Board led by Mr Nandala to court, claiming that he could not continue transacting business on behalf of the Union when their term expired in March.

And on Wednesday, Justice Tadeo Asiimwe ruled that the Board should stop handling the Union affairs until a fresh election is held.

“The old board of the respondent shall cease to handle the affairs of the respondent for 30 days or until otherwise directed by the court or registrar of cooperatives,” Justice Asiimwe said.

“The general manager of the respondent is authorized to run the affairs of the respondents for the period of 30 days. The registrar of cooperatives should give directives and guidance as to what happens in the transition between now and November when the AGM is scheduled to take place,” he added.

Mr Nandala has served as BCU Chairperson for two consecutive terms. In the latest term, he was elected in 2016 and his term of office expired in March.

BCU is Uganda’s only surviving cooperative society. It’s an establishment that has existed since the colonial times. However, it has of late faced leadership challenges, including allegations of abuse of office, lack of transparency, mismanagement of Unions funds.

However, the Nandala leadership denies the allegations and instead accuses government of political interference in a bid to fail the association.

Commenting on the ruling, Mr Nandala said they had delayed to hold the annual AGM in order to give other primary societies time to meet the requirements to participate in the voting exercise.

“The court has helped because now we can hold AGM even if it’s only 10 primary societies that qualify but we had wanted all primary societies to vote,” he said.

Mr Nandala Mafabi further explained that they have a letter from the registrar of cooperatives allowing the current board to continue with its work until a new board is elected in November.

SOURCE: Chimp Reports

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We don’t take bribes to register cooperatives

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By Egessa Hajusu

The registrar of cooperatives Joseph Kitandwe has refuted claims that his office demands for bribes in order to register cooperatives.

“This is a very serious allegation I am hearing it for the first time,” Kitandwe said, and challenged the Cooperator to name its source which is contrary to journalistic principles of protecting sources.

Responding to a question from the Cooperator that his office demands for bribes from cooperatives before registering them.

A number of cooperatives seeking to be registered in Bukedi sub region told the Cooperator that the registration process at the registrar of cooperatives takes longer than the required two weeks period.

The cooperators that requested for anonymity for the feat of being victimised also claimed that they are compelled to pay bribes before getting registration.

Some claimed that their documents have stayed at the registrar’s office for more than three months because of being not able to meet the demands of the registrar’s office.

However, speaking to the Cooperator in a telephone interview Kitandwe dismissed the allegation as baseless and challenged those claiming to have bribed his staffs to name them, vowing to take action against the implicated officers.

He believed some people could be acting as middle men and pausing as commercial officers in his office so as to extort money from the unsuspecting members of the public (cooperators).

Concerning registration, he said, according to their rules, the standard period for registration should be two weeks.

Each case is unique in its way, some may delay because of the clients taking long to respond to the queries raised by the registrar’s office.

All the clients are issued with acknowledgement chits as we receive them to ensure they don’t claim to have submitted in their documents earlier to prevent concerns like this.

“But we are also not compelled to register them anyway,” he said adding that if everything is in order, registration doesn’t take long.

He said he could not give a general comment because each case is different and appealed to those willing to register their cooperatives to feel free take them and directly report to him those asking for bribes.

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