Leadership Archives - Page 35 of 36 - The Uhuru Institute for Social Development

Farmers’ Groups Get A Value Addition Project

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KIKUUBE – Kikuube district local government has launched a Shs 850 million project which will facilitate farmer groups to add value to their maize and rice produce.

The project is funded through the Matching Grant Facility (MGF) under the Agriculture Cluster Development Project (ACDP).

ACDP is a five-year government project initiated in 2018 to improve on-farm productivity, production, and volumes of selected agricultural commodities in specific geographical clusters of the country.

Kikuube district is one of the four beneficiary districts in cluster 10.

Under the ACDP scheme, a first-time farmer is supposed to pay 33% of shs 450,000 and the government tops up the remaining balance.

In the second season, both the government and farmers pay 50% of the money and at the third season, the government pays 33% while the farmer takes the bigger share, 67% of the payment.

The government initiated the Matching Grant Facility (MGF) to assist farmers get good harvests as well as add value to their produce and to also improve road infrastructure to connect farmers to markets.

Speaking during the launch of the project, Barnabus Ntume, the Kikuube district Production Officer explained that 12 farmer groups applied for the Matching Grant Facility (MGF) but only five were considered after they met the requirements.

The qualified farmers’ groups include; Kyangwali farmer’s group in Kyangwali sub-county which received shs 150million, Twimuke Savings Internal Lending Community Association (TSILCA) got shs180 million, Wambabya Community Development Cooperative Society (WDCS) received shs 180 million, Bunyoro Turihamu Cooperative Society (BTCS) received shs181 million all from Kiziranfumbi sub-county and Banyakole Tweyombeke Association in Buhimba sub-county received shs 150 million.

According to Ntume, the funds are going to be used to construct processing house facilities and equipping the facilities with maize miller machines.

“The first criteria we considered for the groups to get the Matching Grant Facility, was the number of farmers that a group has registered on the e-voucher system (farmers Benefiting from ACDP project)” he explained. He added that the qualified groups were also required to pay a co-funding of 33% of the total Matching Grant Facility.

He added that the district is also expecting to get a Matching Grant of shs 700 million to improve on the road networks in the district.

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He added that this money is aimed at addressing the challenges failing the farmers to easily access the market for their agricultural produce.

Launching the project, Peter Banura, Kikuube district boss explained that farmers managed to get the funding because they were organized and called on more farmers to form groups to ensure that they benefit from the government projects.

He challenged the beneficiary groups to sensitize their members on the issue of post-harvest handling methods to ensure quality of production adding that poor handling of crops after harvest is affecting markets.

He added that Kikuube district has the capacity to be a food basket for Bunyoro region once farmers get united and practice commercial agriculture.

He also promised to link up the farmer groups to different organizations such as the World Food Program to address the issue of market if they get organized and start producing quality produce.

Kikuube district Secretary for Production, Nicholas Kiiza, commended the government for the funding, adding that once the projects get completed, the farmers will start adding value to their agricultural produce.

However, he warned the contractors against producing shoddy work and beneficiaries to monitor the projects to ensure value for money after the completion of the projects.

Man Lawrence and Benon Tusigwire, board chairpersons for Kyangwali Farmers and Wambabya Community Development Cooperative Society respectively, commended the government for supporting them to establish the processing house facilities adding that once completed, the farmers will be able to process their produce and sell finished products instead of selling grains.

However, they said that their associations have no means of transport to facilitate farmers to transport their produce from the farms to stores and tractors and called upon the district local government to lobby and get them such agricultural machineries.

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Cooperators Challenged To Go Digital

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UGANDA – Cooperators have been challenged to go digital in order to overcome any unanticipated challenges similar to what the Covid-19 pandemic has done to the business sector in Uganda.

This was revealed on Tuesday during the virtual zoom meeting organized by Uganda Cooperatives Savings and Credit Union (UCSCU) to check on how its primary cooperatives are performing despite the Covid-19 pandemic.

Dr Sylvester Ndiroramukama, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Uganda Co-operatives Savings and Credit Union (UCSCU), encouraged SACCO heads to adopt digitalisation to run cooperatives rather than waiting for Covid-19 to come to an end for physical activities to continue.

“As SACCOs, we need to innovate so that we are able to serve our members at the union level. At the union, we have redefined some new products that you can put to use. One of them is Management Information System (MIS), the accounting software because of the high default rate in SACCOs as a result of the pandemic,” Ndiroramukama explains.

“We also had to look at some other partners to solve the issue of loan defaults and that is how we came up with GnuGrid which is a provider of credit reference services that is duly licensed by Bank of Uganda,” he added.

The meeting attended by dozens of cooperatives’ leaders from the different regions also extracted measures and opportunities that Covid-19 has brought to cooperatives in Uganda.

According to Muzaffar Kinalwa, the Information Communication and Technology (ICT) Manager at UCSCU, this was the third of its kind and more weekly meetings will be held by UCSCU on cooperative identity and information sharing to serve its primary members.

Rita Nansitu-General Manager Sao Zirobwe SACCO embarked on M-SACCO application which enabled them to run cooperative affairs normally without the Covid-19 hinderances during the first & second lockdown.

“M-SACCO came on market in the last quarter of 2018 and its uptake has been low but ever since the Covid-19 lockdown, many people have subscribed as one of the strategies of accessing our services,” said Nansitu.

“People can save, withdraw and pay their loans using the system at a much lower cost and excluding themselves from physical contacts that puts them at risk of getting infected with Covid-19,” says Nansitu.

She adds that the SACCO’s resilience to keep operating despite the Covid-19 challenges has built confidence and trust to increase on their savings.

“During the first lockdown in March 2020, members rushed to pick their money thinking that maybe we are going to close but the fact that we kept operating, the persistence has guaranteed our members who had withdrawn their money to resave with us and our savings have grown tremendously despite the pandemic,” Nansitu explains.

However, she says that the SACCO’s annual work plan slowed down as a result of Covid-19 as loan disbursement was not achieved as budgeted.

“We had targets within our annual work plan but most of them have been disrupted. For instance, our loan portfolio disbursement was greatly affected because we could not continue giving loans yet most of our members were defaulting,” says Nansitu.

“For the very first time, we realized an increase in loan default rates because of closure of businesses. We also registered a reduction in savings. Even those who had little savings had to come for them to stock food such that they can survive the uncertainty of Covid-19,” adds Angella Nabatanzi, the Branch Manager ,Wakiso Self Help SACCO.

She also said, the SACCO suffered some expenditures as it went ahead to support some of the vulnerable members in the community.

“We also realized an increase in expenditure as we had to stick to our principle of supporting our clients through the hard times,” says Nabatanzi.

Contrary to urban SACCOs, Patrick Dramadri, the General Manager Oleba SACCO says Covid-19 came by surprise but the SACCO has continued to register a dramatic increase in both savings and membership.

“As opposed to urban SACCOs where they experienced withdraws, on our side which is rural based, our saving portfolio has shoot up while the membership is also getting high,” says Dramadri.

Oleba is a small but steady growing SACCO in West Nile with a total savings of Shs 513million, loan portfolio of Shs 487million and a membership base of 2,300.

Also, Henry Indema, General Manager Moyo SACCO says the institution has registered an increase in savings during the Covid-19 pandemic.

“To our surprise, savings have increased because most of the money which is supposed to be invested in businesses is now in savings and also an increase in membership because we realized that more people are coming to register within this period of Covid-19 meaning that the pandemic has taught the community how to save for the future,” Indema explained.

However, Indema says this never stopped some of the institution’s credit products from losing market.

“There is a reduction in demand for loan products such as school fees loans as a result of closure of schools during the pandemic,” he revealed.

He adds that SACCOs are also suffering with unclear government communication on loans and repayment by clients.

“Most clients have taken the communication from the president that they are not supposed to pay the loans and this has affected the quality of loan recoveries as many have adamantly refused to pay,” Indema said.

Dicky Byamukama, General Manager Lyamujungu SACCO used the virtual platform to narrate how he survived Covid-19 in the month of June 2021.

“I must confess that I am a survivor of this pandemic and I remember when I was in self isolation for 14 days, I tried by all means to keep it to myself so that the business is not affected but the problem of stigma could not hold,” Byamukama testifies about his experience at the sick bay.

He says his contraction of the novel Covid-19 never spared the institution as members got frightened from accessing financial services directly from the SACCO.

“I don’t know how it leaked to members and they started spreading rumours that all Lyamujungu staff had contracted the disease yet it was only me. This information discouraged SACCO members from doing aggressive savings because of the stigma effect,” Byamukama emphasized.

He adds that the suspension of specific businesses like churches and schools also affected the performance of SACCOs.

“Churches are still closed meaning that church goers can no longer attend services yet we had given loans to some churches and teachers as our pertinent clients and now they cannot meet their repayment schedule,” Byamukama said.

Despite the pandemic, Byamukama says Lyamujungu SACCO has also managed to increase members’ savings.

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“During the pandemic we registered an increase in savings to an extent that we have some fixed deposits with other commercial banks because people are no longer taking money for investment but only saving,” says Byamukama.

Lyamujungu SACCO is one of the oldest SACCOs in Uganda that started its operations in 1984. It has a total membership of 23,000 members, savings of more than shs 4billion and loan portfolio of over shs 8billion.

Solutions to Covid-19

Nansitu advised cooperatives to reduce the expenses and pay attention to only inevitable expenses.

For Nabatanza, she asked SACCO leaders to restructure member loans to amounts deemed affordable to them for payment.

“You also need to restrict the lending and emphasize that disbursement is only done to members with businesses which are still operating,” she advised.

Nabatanza also encouraged SACCOs to sensitize their members about business diversification

“Engage members to start up small capital businesses that require minimal capital enabling them to cater for their families and also make small payments to service their loans,” she further explained.

Indema advised cooperatives to focus on investment rather than savings.

“This is a period of investment in short term loans, a period of investment in mobilizing fair capital from the community. It is a period of sensitizing our clients and a time of giving them massive financial literacy education so that the community and the client would be in position to know what they are supposed to do,” Indema explained.

“If we are to do that, we shall continue to have more clients, more savings and more capital but if we are not doing that, I am sure most SACCOs are going to close because savings is a long-term liability,” he said.

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Nwoya Under Attack By The Foot And Mouth Disease

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NWOYA – Nwoya district is under quarantine to curtail the spread of foot and mouth disease that has reportedly infected hundreds of animals.

The disease has reportedly attacked livestock farms in the two sub-counties of Purongo and Anaka over the last three weeks as the district battles to control the outbreak.

Foot and mouth disease is one of the contagious livestock diseases which affects the cloven-hoofed animals that include cattle, buffalos, sheep, goats, pigs and camels among others.

The disease spreads in animals through breathe from infected animals, salvia, mucus, milk and feaces among others which presents in animals with fever, skin rash and sour mouth.

Although the World Organization of Animal Health reveals that many of the animals can recover, the report points out that the disease leaves animals mainly weak and debilitated with losses in production.

At least 323 cattle in Nwoya District have contracted the disease while 18 of the animals have so far died from the affected areas.

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The disease was first detected from Purongo and has so far killed 10 animals from the area with 78 others battling the disease while 8 more died from Anaka sub-county and 229 are infected, said Emmanuel Orach, the District Chairman for Nwoya.

Emmanuel further disclosed in a recent interview with theCooperator that this foot and mouth disease is suspected to have spread into the area from the wild animals at Murchison Falls Park.

Orach explained that a buffalo which presented signs and symptoms of the disease came in contact with many cattle before it died in the area barely three days before the outbreak.

The Nwoya District Veterinary Officer, Emmanuel Okwir, noted that the district is under quarantine which started three days ago to control infections from other sub-counties.

“We don’t know when the measures will be relaxed but that will depend on the number of cases in the district and we expect the famers to abide by the regulations,” Okwir added.

Hanji Bashir, the Communication Manager at the Uganda Wildlife Authority says they are yet to conduct an investigation into the park to ascertain the condition.

Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Animal Industry, Frank Tumwebaze has cautioned the district to observe measures in controlling the infections as they wait for vaccination of the animals.

He has also ordered for a total shutdown of movement of animals from the affected areas to the neighboring districts though he noted that the quarantine is not sustainable to the economy.

“We don’t have enough vaccines as you may know that many parts of the country are equally affected by the same disease but the Ministry will ration drugs to support the district,” Frank told theCooperator.

He urged the neighboring districts of Omoro, Oyam and Amuru to keep watch on their respective areas to avoid the mass infection into the region.

Michael Oketta, a livestock farmer from Latoro parish in Purongo sub-county says he is facing a challenge to graze his animals for fear of the infections from the neighboring villages.

“I have confined my animals in a very small piece of land but the challenge is that I am to watch over them and I can’t go to work in my gardens,” Oketta explained.

Alfred Opiyo, the Gulu District Veterinary Officer told theCooperator that the district has not registered any case but noted that the district has informed the extension workers to monitor the farmers.

According to the veterinary reports, its treatment is very expensive which involves washing of the sores using antiseptic solution on a daily basis for at least seven days that most farmers cannot afford.

The farmers are also advised to apply wound spray which has antibiotics onto the animal except in the mouth so as to prevent secondary infections.

Nwoya County Member of Parliament Tony Awany told theCooperator that he will procure antibiotics in the next one week to support the farmers to contain the infections.

“Am using the Shs 200 million that parliament gave me to buy a car to procure some antibiotics for the farmers who are vulnerable to the infections,” Awany explained in an interview.

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Pineapple Farmers Are Demanding For A Factory

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NTUGAMO – Farmers in Ntungamo are crying over the continuous drop in pineapple prices in the district.

Justus Tayebwa, a renowned pineapple farmer, blames the drop in prices on the Covid-19 lockdown which has continued to haunt farmers in the district.

Tayebwa owns over 10 acres of pineapple gardens in Nyaruhama cell, Nyamukana town council, Ntungamo district but laments the low sales.

During an exclusive interview over the weekend, Tayebwa told theCooperator that pineapple businesses in the district came to a standstill after the president announced the second Covid-19 lockdown in June 2021.

He says the traders who used to buy their pineapples from Kampala at a relatively higher price ceased coming to their gardens.

“We used to sell our pineapples to business people from Kampala but after the declaration of the lockdown, these traders have never appeared to our gardens again. A trader would be willing to buy but then tells you where will I sell them when hotels like Serena and the rest are all closed?” Tayebwa explained.

He says that farmers were left with no option but resort to roadside trading to avoid their products from getting bad.

https://thecooperator.news/grape-farmers-demand-for-a-fgractory/

“Roadside stalls have increased in number and even some of our pineapple farmers are running after any passing vehicle to at least reduce the number of pineapples getting bad from the gardens,” Tayebwa added.

He says that a pineapple which used to be bought at Shs 1000 at farm price is now being sold between Shs 300-500.

“Looking at the ongoing circumstances, I can assure you that we are being cheated by buyers because they take advantage of the fact that we are stuck with these pineapples in the gardens,” Tayebwa emphasizes.

“We invest a lot but they buy our pineapples cheaply, at least they would be buying them at Shs 2000 counting on what we go through up to the harvesting time especially during the dry seasons,” he adds.

Tayebwa called upon the government to construct an active pineapple fruit processing factory in the district that would consume the production in Nyamukana hills, a famous area for pineapple growing.

“We are entirely pineapple growers and I would like to confirm that each family in Nyamukana town council has at least a pineapple garden. It may not be all that big but some even harvest about 5-6 trucks in a season though we’ve been let down by the market,” he said.

Tayebwa also attributed the low pineapple market on impassable roads in the newly elevated town council.

“Our pineapple market is bad because of poor infrastructure such as roads and electric power connections that cause poor mobility and smooth running of businesses. So, we appeal to the new town council leaders to work on our roads to enable our produce to gain market,” he said.

Tayebwa says that development in Nyamukana has turned to a night mare as per farmers’ expectations due to increased pineapple production in the area.

“Because we have high pineapple production, we expected government support with factories for our pineapples to gain momentum in the area but this has not come true. Since business inception, it has instead worsened the pineapple prices thus low standards of living,” he explained.

Tayebwa employs about 35 casual laborers and expected about Shs 1billion from pineapple growing at the end of the year.

However, Nathan M. Kahangirwe, the Chairperson Nyakihanga Fruits and Vegetable Growers’ Cooperative Society says the district has a fruit factory that was commissioned in January 2020 but has failed to perform to the farmers’ expectations.

According to Kahangirwe, the factory was established by the Uganda Industrial Research Institute (UIRI) and it cost shs. 1.4billion. It was expected to process 700 pineapples producing over 111 litters in an hour. It was also supposed to operate eight hours a day absorbing a total of 5600 pineapples.

Tayebwa says that none of the farmers in the district has ever supplied it with about 500-1000 pineapples since last year.

“We thought everything was going to be sorted but instead the situation has worsened because it processes on a slow pace compared to the high pineapple production in the area,” says Tayebwa.

He instead appealed to the government to add two more pineapple factories to boost pineapple processing in order to address market related issues in the area.

Kahangirwe says as a leadership, they decided to suspend the operations of the factory due to numerous challenges that require government intervention.

He says that the mechanical part of the factory is incomplete adding that they also need filling and packing machines.

“We were packing our juice from the factory manually but to improve on capacity production, we need additional parts for packing to improve on quality and time management,” Kahangirwe explained.

He says that they are also faced with a challenge of human resource since they don’t have qualified staff to operate the squeezer and boilers in the factory.

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Hoima Sugar Company Limited Accused Of Grabbing Farmers’ Land

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KIKUUBE – Residents of Rwekobe and Rwembaho villages in Kabwoya Sub-County, Kikuube district have accused Hoima Sugar Company Limited (HSCL), an Indian owned company for grabbing their land for sugarcane growing.

The accusation was made by residents who on Monday stormed the offices of Kikuube district local government protesting a planned eviction from their land by the Company.

A group of over 40 residents led by their Local Council 1(LC1) chairperson stormed the district headquarters seeking intervention of the district leadership into their misery.

In 2017, Bunyoro-Kitara Kingdom offered 22 square miles for 99-years lease to Hoima Sugar Company Limited, to grow sugarcane.

National Forestry Authority (NFA) dragged Hoima Sugar Company Limited to court challenging the occupancy claiming that the land was part of Bugoma forest reserve; but on 25th April, 2019, Masindi High Court ruled that Hoima Sugar Company Limited was the rightful occupant of the 22 square miles of land.

This ruling attracted massive protests from the residents and environmental activists across the globe that included European Union (EU) Ambassadors who last year visited the forest and condemned all those behind the destruction of the forest for sugarcane growing.

Such protests forced the National Environmental Management Authority (NEMA) to deny Hoima Sugar Company Limited 13 square miles and allowed it only nine square miles out of the 21 square miles, which NEMA deemed fit for human activity since it was grassland (no forest cover).

Residents claimed that the land referred to by NEMA is theirs and Hoima Sugar Company Limited is encroaching on their land.

Flex Akankwasa, the Rwekobe village chairperson said that the sugar company management with support from Uganda Peoples Defense Forces (UPDF) officers commanded by one Col Morgan Mpeka are giving residents sleepless nights. According to him, the company took advantage of the lockdown, invaded the villages and started grading people’s gardens and homes.

He added that many of his residents are now homeless after the sugar company encroached on their land and demolished their houses.

He accused the sugar company for illegally grabbing the residents’ land adding that the land claimed by the company is not part of the land which NEMA allocated to the company.

He called for government’s intervention to ensure that the residents get back their land before they could take laws into their own hands.

“They took advantage of lockdown, when people could not be allowed to move, invaded our villages and chased people from their land, when the President lifted the lockdown on transport means, we also got a chance to come and seek intervention from our leaders,” he said and demanded government to stop the activities of the sugar company so that the residents regain their land.

Gerald Tusabomu, a resident says since last month, many crop gardens including banana, coffee, mangoes and jack fruit plantations have been destroyed by graders belonging to the sugar company.

Tusabomu, who claimed that he has so far lost 15 acres of land, wondered why the company is not using the land which was allocated to it by NEMA for sugarcane growing and decided to grab land owned by residents.

https://thecooperator.news/sugar-cane-farmers-reject-the-new-price/

He says that the residents are living in misery due to harassment from the army deployed in the area and called for the district leadership intervention to avoid confrontation.

“We have no food to feed our families since our gardens have been graded by Hoima sugar, we request our leaders to intervene and return our land,” he cried.

Charles Twogyirwe, Chairperson of Rwebaho village said that several houses have been demolished adding that he is currently housing over 20 women and their children who were evicted from their land.

“Generally there is no peace in the area, there is a lot of harassment in the village, houses have been demolished, goats and chicken are being eaten by this group. I have 20 women and their children at my home and am thinking of bringing them to the district because I no longer have food to feed them,” Charles Twogyirwe also cried for help.

John Kabandize of Kabandize and Co Advocates, the residents’ lawyer accused the company agents of harassing and raping women and girls, denying residents access to water sources, gardens and torturing them, saying such acts of impunity should stop.

He wondered how a foreigner can use the country’s army to harass the citizens whom they are mandated to protect adding that before the eviction, the residents petitioned several offices for help but all in vain.

“We know how investors operate, this is not an investor, he is just a land grabber, and you cannot just come and invade Bataka because you’re an investor. Where should they go? We are going to use different ways; we are going to use media, the power of residents and law to ensure that people get back land,” he said.

Vincent Alpha Opio, the Kikuube district Vice Chairman condemns the illegal acts of Hoima Sugar Company Limited saying that district leaders are to investigate the matter and come up with a comprehensive report.

“We need development but it should not cause problems to our people. As district leaders, we are not ready to experience the incident of Kigyayo in Kiziranfumbi where hundreds of people were evicted from their land by the same company,” he added. He promised the residents to do the needful to address their concerns.

Joseph Twegonze the Bunyoro Kitara Kingdom land supervisor says that it was wrong for the company to start cultivation without opening boundaries to ascertain where the company land begins and ends.

He demanded the government to halt the activities of Hoima sugar company, adding that opening of boundaries on the contested land is the only solution to the stand-off between the residents and the company.

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Civil Servants’ SACCO Grapples With Shs 60 Million Debt

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MASINDI – Masindi Civil Servants’ Savings and Credit Cooperative Society Limited is grappling with over Shs 60 million debts, Nasur Ibrahim the SACCO Chairperson has said.

“All the share capital for the members was mismanaged by the previous leadership. Now members want their money but there’s nowhere to get it. Members are demanding for more than Shs 60 million but I found the account with only Shs 6 million. We are just struggling to reactivate the SACCO. We don’t know what some of the money was used for,” Ibrahim told theCooperator on Wednesday.

He explained that everything is in a mess, adding that there are no proper records and the accountability on how the previous leadership used the money.

“I hear the money was lent to the SACCO members but refused to pay back. I was also told the money was used to do administrative issues. Now members are demanding for their savings because most of them have lost interest because of what happened. I have refused to refund their savings because we need to work around and rejuvenate the SACCO,” he explained.

The Chairperson noted that by the time they took over the SACCO a few months back, it had many problems which needed time to rectify.

https://thecooperator.news/performing-artiste-sacco-leaders-arrested/

He also said that members would be compelled to save since it was an automatic deduction from their salaries.

The SACCO comprises of entirely both active and retired civil servants for Masindi District Local Government (MDLG).

In April this year, Moses Kalyegira, the Masindi District Commercial Officer convened a special general meeting to put in place a new board.

Addressing the members during a meeting which was held in the council chambers, Kalyegira noted that the SACCO had been dormant for many years because the board chairperson resigned under unclear circumstances which led to the loss of interest by other members of the board and the SACCO members.

“This is a special meeting because the board had failed to perform it’s works. I have engaged the former chairperson Ruth Kisakye three times to convene a meeting such that she could handover officially but all in vain. I have decided that I chair this meeting such that the SACCO can put in place a new board to start conducting business because we couldn’t go on without the signatories,” he explained.

Kalyegira further said that he decided to take over and organize the meeting because he couldn’t just sit and see the SACCO collapse wondering why SACCOs for other people with little financial knowledge were thriving and yet the one for professionals in finance was limping.

“People have been unable to access services and yet they have their money on the account because the board members lost interest. Let’s forget that and start a new chapter today. I have been receiving many complaints from members about their money being idle in the bank and being deducted,” said Kalyegira.

According to Kalyegira, the SACCO started in 2003, adding that there’s a time when membership reached 300. But by the time they conducted the elections, the active members were 100.

The purpose of its formation was to enhance a saving culture amongst members and to offer loans at a low interest to civil servants.

In the same meeting, Charles Musiguzi, the then treasurer told the members that more than Shs 20 million was in loans, adding that they had Shs 6.5 million on the SACCO account. He also explained that there was a time savings reached Shs 70 million.

He also added that they had a challenge of recovering the money from some people who asked for cross transfers.

“The mode of recovery and saving was automatic deduction from the salaries. Recovering this money might also be a challenge because some of the civil servants no longer work with us,” he said.

He also told the meeting that the reduction of membership was brought about by the laxity of the board members and the poor mobilization skills.

In his inaugural speech, Nasur Ibrahim, the board chairperson promised to regain back the dignity of the SACCO.

“I am one of the people who had lost interest. This is a SACCO for technocrats. How can it fail?” he asked.

However, the chairperson told theCooperator that he is also finding it hard to regain members’ willingness to revive the SACCO since they were demoralized by the acts of the past leadership.

“We have not yet lost hope as a new leadership. We are still mobilizing the members to renew their membership but it’s not a simple task to win them back,” he noted.

Some members whom theCooperator spoke to said that they’re totally disappointed with how the past leaders mismanaged their savings and share capital noting that they would sacrifice their money expecting a lot but in vain.

“We lost interest in the SACCO unless the new leadership came with a convincing explanation, we cannot join the SACCO,” the members who spoke on condition of anonymity said.

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Bugamba People’s SACCO Gets New Leaders

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RWAMPARA – After a few stumbles, the long-shelved election of leaders of Bugamba People’s Savings and Credit Cooperative (SACCO) was held on May 20 in Rweibogo village, Bugamba Sub County in Rwampara district.

The tense election was conducted under the watchful eye of security officers camped at the venue of the special general meeting after two previous Annual General Meetings (AGM) were aborted.

Out of 1,744 members, about 600 turned up to elect new committee members whose term of office expired in 2019.

https://thecooperator.news/rwampara-saccos-get-nod-to-borrow-emyooga-funds/

The special general meeting was presided over by Moses Magumba, a senior officer at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives.

“Some of your members petitioned our office that the previous two AGMs were held but elections were not conducted. Since the term of office had expired and we never wanted a leadership vacuum, we came to conduct a special general meeting today, May 20,” Magumba said.

According to Christopher Ahimbisibwe, the General Manager of Bugamba People’s SACCO, the latest standoff has its roots in an April 2021 petition lodged by SACCO members with the Office of the Registrar of Cooperatives seeking clarity on who should take up leadership positions after the first and second AGMs conducted ended prematurely.

“At the close of the year 2020, members were to elect a new board but to their shock, the chairperson of the vetting committee had elected the full board committee without their approval. Members then wrote a petition in April 2021 to the Registrar of Cooperatives about the failure to elect new statutory committees. The request was honored by the Ministry of Trade who instructed that a special general meeting be held on 20th May 2021, which is today,” Ahimbisibwe said.

However, the anticipated tumultuous special general meeting on May 20, ended peacefully.

Members re-elected Alfred Ainembabazi as the new chairperson of the board committee deputized by Joselyne Nantale.

“On the position of the chairperson, we’ve not gotten any other member competing therefore I declare Mr. Alfred Ainembabazi Bazira as the dully elected chairperson of Bugamba People’s SACCO,” Magumba announced.

Members also elected the new supervisory and vetting committees.

After elections, Alfred Ainembabazi, the new board chairperson accused Amon Mutabarura, the Rwampara District Commercial Officer of causing financial loss to Bugamba People’s SACCO.

Herbert Ndibarema, another elected member, asked the registrar’s office to punish Mutabarura.

“If it’s possible you should either first discipline this district commercial officer or change him from Rwampara because he was behind everything that happened,” Ndibarema.

The new chairman promised to open a new chapter.

“We shall always tell the truth, I promise to unite you all and do whatever you want. I request you to always ask us and get to know what you don’t understand instead of listening to rumors,” Ainembabazi said.

Christopher Ahimbisibwe, the SACCO General Manager, said, “It is now a new beginning and the fact that I have an operating board we are going to cooperate and make sure that the SACCO stabilizes.”

“Our hope is that by the end of this year, our Bugamba People’s SACCO will have reclaimed all its lost glory,” he said.

Magumba said the errant District Commercial Officer will be summoned for disciplinary action.

Interviewed for comment, Amon Mutabarura blamed his troubles on the political mafias in Rwampara that were protecting the former chairman.

“This SACCO was earlier hijacked by the mafias who were at the apex of loan defaulters. As a commercial officer I cannot support something, which is wrong and the moment you support what is right then culprits will find all the means to fail you,” Mutabarura said.

Asked why he suspended the former chairperson, Mutabarura said he was conniving with management to swindle members’ savings.

“Alfred and Centenary were both political agents and due to the fact that politics was still active and fresh in the minds of members, we wanted to change the whole leadership so that they can get someone who is neutral and able to bring the two sides on board but the old board couldn’t concur with me. And then allegations that I was sidelining with some of the aspirants had to arise,” Mutabarura said.

Mutabarura said he is not worried about being punished by the registrar of cooperatives.

“Cooperatives are usually private sector developments unless I did something irregular like causing financial loss or taking a bribe but with an advisory service people may talk irresponsibly. Bugamba People’s SACCO is one of many cooperatives so I am still a custodian in the district,” he said.

Vicent Nuwagira, the deputy Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) of Rwampara adds that the politics involved within the SACCO could not cause punishments to their staff.

“Issues of Bugamba People’s SACCO seem political and they wanted to intimidate one of our staff but otherwise Mutabarura is still our staff and he is working. We can’t suspend our staff just because of your chaos in changing leaders to me there was no case to answer” says Nuwagira

In his closing remarks, Magumba representing the registrar of cooperatives’ office said it was unfortunate for their staff but thanked Bugamba People’s SACCO members for exhibiting total discipline and patience to elect a new leadership.

Bugamba People’s SACCO which was formed in 2005, has a total of 1,744 members, with a share capital of shs 270,917,400, total savings of shs 227,102,653 and a loan portfolio of shs 707,917,587.

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The post Bugamba People’s SACCO Gets New Leaders appeared first on The Cooperator News.

SACCOs Tipped On Playbook For Success

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KWANIA – Cooperatives should follow a basic playbook for success which has a blend of good financial character and good governance, Patrick Bura, the District Principal Commercial Officer of Kwania, has said.

Bura offered the management tip while officiating at the recent Annual General Meeting (AGM) of Ikwera Co-operative Savings and Credit Society Ltd at Aduku town council in the northern district of Kwania.

The AGM was attended by about 900 members from the sub-counties of Abongomola, Nambieso, Chawente, Inomo, Akali, Ayabi, Atongtidi and Aduku.

On the same day, Ikwera SACCO elected a new board to run its affairs for the next four years.

Robert Odur, the former SACCO chairperson retained his job, Acayo Molly Grace is the new vice chairperson, Sister Molly Grace (treasurer), and Opio Nam Joseph (general secretary).

Awor Dilish, Adupa Bilington, Lawrence Etin, Ngu Jasper, and Ocaka Sarafina were elected members of the committee.

SACCO delegates elected

The meeting also elected 22 SACCO delegates representing 11 sub-counties in Kwania district.

“It is the duty of the delegates to formally and informally educate the SACCO members. It is their duty to spread the SACCO gospel to potential members.” Bura said.

A 2019 forensic audit found that Ikwera SACCO had made a loss of Shs 245m after unknown assailants broke into its premises and stole members’ savings. A security guard identified as Bonny Doi was arrested.

https://thecooperator.news/saccos-urged-to-embrace-tech-digital-lending/

“The robbery took place amidst loud sounds of door breaking, safe dismantling and wall digging at night but Doi, the SACCO’s security guard, failed to make an alarm or call police officers at Kwania police station, which is less than 500 meters away,” Felix Oguna, the SACCO manager said, adding, “that prompted his arrest, investigations are ongoing although we have not recovered the money.”

Bura however, urged the new board to ensure good governance, which includes having credible leadership that implements good management practices.

“Given the turbulence it has had before, the SACCO is now on track. But it can only keep on track if the board is not selfish and practices good corporate governance,” he said.

He said a strong foundation for any cooperative starts with leaders who are willing to dedicate their time and resources to developing the SACCO.

“Your SACCO’s philosophy is savings and credit so members must be ready to save and save regularly to be able to access credit, which they must repay in time.” he explained.

George KK Akaca, the Aduku Town Council area councilor, urged prudence in appraising individual loan applications to avoid lending money to defaulters.

“Poor appraisal of loan applicants by loans officers has led to the collapse of many cooperatives,” he warned. He said a proper appraisal should take into consideration the applicant’s assets and carefully record their addresses.

“Otherwise, in no time you will find that they have gone bankrupt, or you cannot trace them, and it would be very hard for the SACCO to recover its money,” he said.

Growing SACCO

According to Ikwera SACCO’s General Manager, Felix Oguna, the SACCO, which was started in 2010, currently has 1,129 members.

The SACCO’s loan portfolio shot from Shs 540m to Shs 762m last year. It projects to have saved at least Shs 900m by the end of 2021.

“The SACCO has a number of challenges which include poor loan recovery, delay in loan payment, limited loan fund and high cost security provision among others, but now that we have the delegates in place, slowly the problems will come to an end,” Oguna said.

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The post SACCOs Tipped On Playbook For Success appeared first on The Cooperator News.

Struggling SACCO Appeals For Bailout

/in acholi, Africa, agricultural, Agricultural Credit, Agriculture, Analysis, Animal Welfare, Ankole, Annual General meeting, Apple Growers in Uganda, bank, banking, Banks, Banyankole Kweterana, boda boda, Boda Boda cooperative, bribes, Buganda Kingdom, Bunyoro, Busia, Business, Busoga, Central, Cereals, charcoal, Chickens, cholera, Church, citrus farmers, city centre, climate change, Coffee, Coffee Cooperative, Coffee farmers, Coffee farming, coop, Coop Bank, coop week, Cooperative, cooperative accountability, Cooperative Governance, Cooperative society, Cooperative Union, cooperatives, Cooperatives & Communities, Cooperatives Governance, cooperators, Coopertives, coopweek, Cotton farming, Counter-Strike, court, Covid-19, dairy, deforestation, Democracy, Development, Diaspora, DroughT in Uganda, EAC, East Africa, East African Community, Eastern, economic, Elders, Elections, Entertainment, environment, Fake agro-inputs, Famine, Farmers, farming, Featured, Finance, Finance & Banking, Financial, fishing, floods, food, Foods, Fraud, Frontpage Article, Gambia, global, governance, government, Green Revolution in Africa, Gulu, hailstorms, health, Hoima District, Hoima Municipality Teachers SACCO, Housing, IK Musaazi, Ikwera SACCO, Images, International Coffee Day, Interview, Irrigation, Irrigation schemes, Kabaka, Kabarole, Kampala, Kasese, kasese fish farmers, kasese floods, Kenya, Kilimo Trust, Kwania District, Leadership, Legal, Life Style, Loans, Lwengo, Maize, Market Information, masaka, Masaka Elders Cooperative Union, Masindi, masindi bodaboda, matatus, Micro-finance, MicroFinance, Microfinance Support Centre, Middlemen, milk processing, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Water and Environment, moroto, motorcycles, MTN, Music, Mwalimu National Sacco, NAADS, National Coffee Bill, News, nigeria, Northern, NSSF, Oil, Opinion, Opinions, Organisations, orphanage, OWC, Parliament, Pesticides, Politics, Post harvest loses, Preservation of Bean, President Mnangagwa, Quote, Regional, registration, Report, Rhino Camp ginnery, Rice farming, roads, Rwanda, Rwenzori Apple farmers, Sacco, SACCOs, standards, storage of cereals, strike, sugar cane out-grower, Tanzania, tax, taxes, teachers, Technology, Trade, Transport, TV, UCDA, Uganda, Uganda Coffee Development Authority, Uganda Cooperative Alliance, Uganda Microfinance Regulatory Authority, Uhuru Institute, umeme, Uncategorized, Walimu SACCO, Waterborne diseases, weather, Western, World, World News, yoghurt, Youth, zimbabwe/by tc

HOIMA – A struggling Teachers’ Saving and Credit Co-operative Society (SACCO) in Hoima Oil City is appealing for a government financial bailout – with good reason.

The 175 member Hoima Municipality Teachers SACCO which started in 2018 offers cheap loans of at least 8% interest rate to only government teachers.

There are about 500 government teachers in Hoima city.

Moses Ayebale, the SACCO chairman, said the SACCO is struggling to grow because it lacks funds.

https://thecooperator.news/hoima-elders-stuck-with-two-year-old-sacco/

He said the SACCO was fully registered in February 2019 and has saved over Shs 10 million but the teachers’ demands for loans outstrip its savings.

Ayebale said the high office rent, payment of staff, lack of furniture and other office equipment such as computers are crippling the SACCO.

“We had employed a full time manager but because of inadequate funds to pay him we agreed that he should work three days a week,” Ayabale said.

He said the government should invest in the struggling SACCO to help teachers turnaround their livelihoods and avoid expensive bank loans. He also urged the government to get experts to train them in skills and knowledge of managing the SACCO.

“If the government injects money in our SACCO, we shall be able to meet the teachers’ high demand for loans. And again, there is no harm if the government can provide us with experts to monitor this SACCO. If they can convene a meeting, train us and provide us with tools, it will help us manage our SACCO because we teachers, are not trained in financial management,” he said.

Ayebale said they managed to lobby for Shs 65 million from the government salary loans kitty of Shs 25 billion injected in Walimu Sacco. He said 12 teachers out of the 30 corded within Hoima city have already benefited from the funds.

“To be corded, one must be an active member of the SACCO and on the government payroll. The recovery of the Shs 65 million is good because it only benefits corded teachers. The teachers benefiting from Walimu SACCO salary loans pay 15% interest and 7% of the 15% is given to our SACCO.” he said.

He added that the SACCO expects to get another Shs 200 million from Walimu once the borrowed Shs 65 million is recovered.

Johnson Kusiima Baigana, the Hoima City Principal Education Officer, said the SACCO will save teachers from acquiring high interest loans from banks, which pile pressure on them.

“You find a teacher having loans in more than one bank with high interest rates. When they fail to pay, banks start harassing and chasing them around like thieves. This affects their concentration in class because they are looking out of the window to see who comes into the school. They are ready to take off,” he said.

“The government has a hand in this Teachers’ SACCO because its the government through our president, that encouraged teachers to form SACCOs and even injected billions of shillings in Walimu SACCO to save them from borrowing from banks.” he said, adding that, “We thought our SACCO was going to get soft loans for teachers but we found some challenges at the national level, they have not kept their promises because money is not flowing as we expected.”

“We are going to engage Walimu SACCO managers to find out what went wrong because teachers apply for the money and they get no response.” he said.

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The post Struggling SACCO Appeals For Bailout appeared first on The Cooperator News.

Fuel Theft Derails Oil Roads Construction

/in acholi, Africa, agricultural, Agricultural Credit, Agriculture, Albertine Graben region, Analysis, Animal Welfare, Ankole, Annual General meeting, Apple Growers in Uganda, bank, banking, Banks, Banyankole Kweterana, boda boda, Boda Boda cooperative, bribes, Buganda Kingdom, Bunyoro, Busia, Business, Busoga, Central, Cereals, charcoal, Chickens, China Railway Seventh Group, cholera, Church, citrus farmers, city centre, climate change, Coffee, Coffee Cooperative, Coffee farmers, Coffee farming, coop, Coop Bank, coop week, Cooperative, cooperative accountability, Cooperative Governance, Cooperative society, Cooperative Union, cooperatives, Cooperatives & Communities, Cooperatives Governance, cooperators, Coopertives, coopweek, Cotton farming, Counter-Strike, court, Covid-19, dairy, deforestation, Democracy, Development, Diaspora, DroughT in Uganda, EAC, East Africa, East African Community, Eastern, economic, Elders, Elections, Entertainment, environment, Fake agro-inputs, Famine, Farmers, farming, Featured, Finance, Finance & Banking, Financial, fishing, floods, food, Foods, Fraud, Frontpage Article, Fuel, Gambia, global, governance, government, Green Revolution in Africa, Gulu, hailstorms, health, Hoima District, Hoima Municipality Teachers SACCO, Housing, IK Musaazi, Ikwera SACCO, Images, International Coffee Day, Interview, Irrigation, Irrigation schemes, Kabaka, Kabarole, Kampala, Kasese, kasese fish farmers, kasese floods, Kenya, Kikuube district, Kilimo Trust, Kwania District, Leadership, Legal, Life Style, Loans, Lwengo, Maize, Market Information, masaka, Masaka Elders Cooperative Union, Masindi, masindi bodaboda, matatus, Micro-finance, MicroFinance, Microfinance Support Centre, Middlemen, milk processing, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Water and Environment, moroto, motorcycles, MTN, Music, Mwalimu National Sacco, NAADS, National Coffee Bill, News, nigeria, Northern, NSSF, Oil, Opinion, Opinions, Organisations, orphanage, OWC, Parliament, Pesticides, police, Politics, Post harvest loses, Preservation of Bean, President Mnangagwa, Quote, Regional, registration, Report, Rhino Camp ginnery, Rice farming, Road Construction, roads, Rwanda, Rwenzori Apple farmers, Sacco, SACCOs, standards, storage of cereals, strike, sugar cane out-grower, Tanzania, tax, taxes, teachers, Technology, Trade, Transport, TV, UCDA, Uganda, Uganda Coffee Development Authority, Uganda Cooperative Alliance, Uganda Microfinance Regulatory Authority, Uhuru Institute, umeme, Uncategorized, Walimu SACCO, Waterborne diseases, weather, Western, World, World News, yoghurt, Youth, zimbabwe/by tc

KIKUUBE – A steep rise in the theft of cement and hundreds of litres of fuel from Chinese road contractor; China Railway Seventh Group (CRSG) threatens to derail completion of the on-going construction of the Shs 500 billion ,97 kilometer, oil roads project in the Albertine Graben region.

In 2018, the government contracted China Railway Seventh Group (CRSG) to tarmac the 25 kilometer Hohwa-Nyairongo-Kyarushesha-Butole Road, Kabaale-Kizirabfumbi road (25kms) and the 47 kilometer Masindi-Biiso road.

Overwhelmed by the persistent fuel thefts, an CRSG official recently petitioned Kikuube Resident District Commissioner Amlan Tumusime to intervene and stop the escalating vice.

Ambrose Atwine, the company spokesperson, said CRSG is overwhelmed by the problem.

According to information from CRSG, the company loses about 4,500 litres of fuel worth over Shs 162 million to fuel thieves per month, which translates to over Shs 1.3 billion every year.

Charles Muhangi, a maize farmer and cattle keeper in Kyarushesha village in Kyangwali sub-county, said security must intervene and stop the fuel theft.

https://thecooperator.news/market-vendors-tipped-on-sacco-formation/

“We farmers have suffered with poor roads for a long time. It has been very difficult to transport our produce from here to the markets, so when we hear someone sabotaging the construction of these roads, we get concerned because they mean a lot to us,” he said.

RDC Amlan Tumusime said stealing road construction materials was becoming a serious challenge to government projects.

He said government officials including police officers were involved in the theft.

Tumusime said they are investigating several police officers implicated in the theft.

“Several police officers who have been singled will soon have tough measures taken against them and they have started recording statements” he said, adding that the suspected officers have been conniving with truck drivers to siphon fuel from CRSG trucks and sell it in jerrycans.

Fuel thieves connive with company truck drivers to siphon fuel from trucks. The stolen fuel is sold in Hoima, Masindi and Kampala.

Tumusime said spy networks have helped pin down the suspects.

Speaking to theCooperator last Monday, Tumusime said over 10 thugs were arrested, produced in courts of law, charged and remanded last month.

He said the district has managed to impound two vehicles used by thieves to transport the stolen fuel last month and this month.

Vehicle registration number UAD 189K Toyota Corona and Premio registration number UAS 609N were impounded in an impromptu security operation.

The culprits allegedly fled and abandoned the vehicles when security stormed. The vehicles are currently parked at Kikuube central police station.

He said over 10 jerrycans of siphoned fuel, 10 drums and a pipe used to siphon the fuel were also impounded during the operation.

“We first sensitized the community and educated them that these projects benefit them and not the Chinese. I am very happy that the community was empowered and whenever they see anybody stealing fuel, they call us and this has helped us to curb this challenge,” he said.

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The post Fuel Theft Derails Oil Roads Construction appeared first on The Cooperator News.

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Fuel Theft Derails Oil Roads Construction

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