Ntoroko cooperators urged to utilise their SACCOs effectively

NTOROKO – The Ntoroko district Chairperson William Kasoro has urged cooperators to utilise their savings and credit cooperative societies (SACCOs) effectively to buy more shares.

Kasoro said, most of the cooperative members are using their SACCOs only to get loans and in most cases, they default hence leading to their collapse.

He said, he believes in pulling resources as a group which also helps in improving on household income.

“Most members save some little money in SACCOs with an aim of getting loans but keep their huge sums of money in banks. They don’t keep their money with their SACCOs but they want the SACCOs to give them in form of loans” he noted.

Kasoro said, the power of every SACCO is in share capital, the more the shares the more the money.

“I appeal to you to have as many shares as you can and also save some more money so that it can also make more profits through borrowing” he said.

Kasoro further said, this while officiating the Karugutu Cooperative Savings and Credit Society Ltd [KASACCO] Annual General Meeting [AGM] held in Karugutu town.

The KASACCO board Chairperson Ernest Bwambale appealed to members to continue mobilizing for the SACCO so as to increase their membership, shares and savings.

“There has been a great improvement in all aspects in membership, savings, loans, shares and profitability which gives a great picture of sustainability but we still need to continue mobilizing more members” Bwambale noted.

He also said through intensive mobilization especially in areas of Bundibugyo, there has been an increase of membership by 696 members 2916 in 2020 to 3600 in 2021 and over 100 accounts were reactivated.

Bwambale said, their 2022 membership projection is at 4320 members

“This year’s share capital projection is at Shs 200m and savings is projected at Shs 1.2bn and we hope through proper mobilization, we shall achieve it” he added.

Challenges

Bwambale noted that clients have not been paying back in time which has become a habit even when the SACCO has done all it could.

During the AGM, it was also noted that some savings for members was not good because most of them open accounts with an aim of getting loans, such accounts remain dormant for some time.

KASACCO’s future plans is to reduce the interest rate from 3 percent to 2.5 percent once they finish construction of their premises.

KASACCO is constructing her office in order to have enough space to carry out her business.

AGM resolutions

KASACCO AGM resolved to increase the maximum amount of loan to individuals from Shs10m to Shs15m in a bid to increase profitability and sustainability and to groups from Shs15m to Shs20m.

Share capital was also increased from Shs10,000 to Shs20,000.

This year’s AGM was held under the theme, savings and shares mobilization, a strategy for sustainability.

https://thecooperator.news/masindi-teachers-sacco-grapples-with-40-account-dormancy/

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Masindi teachers’ SACCO share capital increase to Shs56m

MASINDI – The share capital for Masindi teachers’ SACCO has increased to Shs56 million in 2021 from Shs 47 million raised in the year 2020.

This was revealed by Joseph Rukundo, the Chairperson board Masindi teachers’ SACCO during their 15th Annual General Meeting (AGM) which was held at Lado Hotel in Masindi town.

Rukundo further noted that the SACCO’s loan portfolio also increased to Shs37 million in 2021 from Shs 36 million realised in 2020.

“Our surplus has also increased from Shs 48 million to Shs58 million which is a big achievement to us,” he added.

Rukundo also said, 64 new members were registered through engagements on radio stations for mobilisation during the lockdown.

He added that the biggest challenges they’re grappling with include; the dormant accounts, non responsive defaulters, poor saving culture and multiple borrowing by some clients.

“Currently, the SACCO is faced with 225 dormant accounts. However, they have reduced from 238.”

Gladys Tusiimire the Secretary Masindi teachers’ SACCO noted that their savings reduced from Shs 84.7 million in 2020 to 81.2 million in 2021.

She attributed this to a poor saving culture where some members save purposely for loans.

“This can be evidenced by a reduction in savings for the financial year 2021.We are also faced with a challenge of insufficient loanable funds for timely disbursement to the members and the lack of commitment by members to meet their obligation.”

Aled Ronald Akugizibwe, the Member of Parliament for Buruli county advised the teachers to always plan for their exit from the civil service when they are still energetic.

“You should always put in place a side income. Stop depending on only the salary. I don’t want to see you refusing to vacate the teachers’ headquarters after retirement,” advised Akugizibwe.

He also asked the SACCO management to use him as an MP to help them lobby for it.

“Use me to lobby for the SACCO. In case you get an opportunity, I am ready to stand with you,” he said.

Masindi Teachers’ SACCO which started in 2005 boasts of about 700 members. It was initiated by the teachers of Masindi though it was later opened to the public.

Rukundo said it was opened to the public in order to meet the demands for other sectors.

One of its goals is to become a leading SACCO entity that will grow into a bank.

Some of its services include; saving salary, business loans, school fees, agricultural and emergency loans among others.

https://thecooperator.news/how-saccos-came-to-dominate-ugandas-cooperative-movement/

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Masindi teachers’ SACCO share capital increase to Shs56m

MASINDI – The share capital for Masindi teachers’ SACCO has increased to Shs56 million in 2021 from Shs 47 million raised in the year 2020.

This was revealed by Joseph Rukundo, the Chairperson board Masindi teachers’ SACCO during their 15th Annual General Meeting (AGM) which was held at Lado Hotel in Masindi town.

Rukundo further noted that the SACCO’s loan portfolio also increased to Shs37 million in 2021 from Shs 36 million realised in 2020.

“Our surplus has also increased from Shs 48 million to Shs58 million which is a big achievement to us,” he added.

Rukundo also said, 64 new members were registered through engagements on radio stations for mobilisation during the lockdown.

He added that the biggest challenges they’re grappling with include; the dormant accounts, non responsive defaulters, poor saving culture and multiple borrowing by some clients.

“Currently, the SACCO is faced with 225 dormant accounts. However, they have reduced from 238.”

Gladys Tusiimire the Secretary Masindi teachers’ SACCO noted that their savings reduced from Shs 84.7 million in 2020 to 81.2 million in 2021.

She attributed this to a poor saving culture where some members save purposely for loans.

“This can be evidenced by a reduction in savings for the financial year 2021.We are also faced with a challenge of insufficient loanable funds for timely disbursement to the members and the lack of commitment by members to meet their obligation.”

Aled Ronald Akugizibwe, the Member of Parliament for Buruli county advised the teachers to always plan for their exit from the civil service when they are still energetic.

“You should always put in place a side income. Stop depending on only the salary. I don’t want to see you refusing to vacate the teachers’ headquarters after retirement,” advised Akugizibwe.

He also asked the SACCO management to use him as an MP to help them lobby for it.

“Use me to lobby for the SACCO. In case you get an opportunity, I am ready to stand with you,” he said.

Masindi Teachers’ SACCO which started in 2005 boasts of about 700 members. It was initiated by the teachers of Masindi though it was later opened to the public.

Rukundo said it was opened to the public in order to meet the demands for other sectors.

One of its goals is to become a leading SACCO entity that will grow into a bank.

Some of its services include; saving salary, business loans, school fees, agricultural and emergency loans among others.

https://thecooperator.news/how-saccos-came-to-dominate-ugandas-cooperative-movement/

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Refugees, host communities scramble for access to agricultural land in Obongi district

OBONGI – Host communities and South Sudanese refugees in Palorinya sub-county in Obongi district are scrambling for access to fertile land for agricultural practices.

Palorinya sub-county has a total of 47,297 South Sudanese Refugees and 8417 host refugees.

Mohamed Geriga, a resident of Ipakwe village in Palorinya sub-county, one of the refugee hosting areas says, the fertile land which they normally used, has all been given to the refugees for settlement, forcing them to the banks of river Nile.

Geriga says most of the land in the area is covered by hills to the North and River Nile to the South leaving a stretch not fully fertile yet thousands are living on it.

Susan Amviko, another resident of the area says, there have been some cases of conflicts and disputes over land between the refugees and host communities as a result of limited access fertile land.

Victoria Duite, the Refugee Welfare Committee 2 Chairperson says, some of the refugees who had rented land for agriculture have either been stopped from accessing the land or their crops destroyed over internal family disputes over land.

According to information obtained by our reporter, hiring a plot of land per season goes for Shs 50,000.

“In some incidents, when the refugees hire land for cultivation from the host communities, some of the members of the landowners tend to chase away our brothers and sisters under unclear circumstances. In some cases, there are family disputes over land ownership which in turn leaves our refugees in huge losses,” Duite explains.

Thomas Morudrole, Acting sub-county Chief of Palorinya sub-county said, the scramble for land has also been intensified by the unfavorable weather patterns and the massive tree destruction by both the host communities and refugees.

According to Modrule, as a result of lack of adequate land for cultivation, coupled with the reduced supply of food rations by the World Food Program (WFP), several refugees have joined the host communities in the fishing business.

United Nations Development Program’s Raymond Mukisa, the Uganda Host and Refugee Empowerment Project Manager says, whereas the disputes affect the refugees, under their 4-year project, they have engaged members of the community who own land to cooperate and share the land.

He further says, they have engaged the refugees and members of the community in income generating activities ranging from businesses to life skills projects in order to avoid disputes.

According to Mukisa, under the livelihood phase of their project, they have planted more than 1,112 acres of woodlots on land which is owned by the host communities yet maintained by the refugees.

“On these acres of land, we have planted Ticks, Pine and other trees which are monitored by the refugees and members of the community. Also, these refugees and host communities have planted crops as they manage the woodlots. This is in order to improve on nutrition as well as boost food security,” Mukisa said.

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Lyamujungu Cooperative reinvests all dividends to settle outstanding loan

Members of Kabale-based Lyamujungu Co-operative Financial Services Ltd have resolved to reinvest all their dividends in order to absorb the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic that has affected many financial institutions in Uganda.

The decision was made during the cooperative’s recent scientific Annual General Meeting (AGM) held on Saturday, October 17, 2020.

According to the cooperative’s General Manager, Dicky Byamukama, the successful extraordinary annual general meeting held at Kizinga Church of Uganda, was attended by over 100 delegates and all the board members.

“To observe the COVID-19 SOPs, management was represented by branch managers and senior management staff. We did not compromise on the social distancing aspect either,” Byamukama said.

He confirmed that during the AGM members unanimously agreed to recapitalize Shs 235m dividends as part of their share capital to boost the cooperative’s growth.

“All members appreciated the advice from the supervisory committee where every share had generated 1000 shillings as dividends and they resolved to recapitalize those dividends,” Byamukama explained.

He, however, reported that some members had rejected the idea until the District Commercial Officer (DCO), Erasmus Natumanya advised them on the importance of reinvesting dividends at this material time.

“Definitely it was a big debate but our guest of honour (DCO) added his voice in instilling the purpose of saving dividends.”

He adds that the reinvested dividends will enable the cooperative to settle a loan worth Shs 500mfrom the Microfinance Support Center, of which Shs 350m remains unpaid.

The General Manager noted that the cooperative’s financial activities have been greatly affected by the cross border conflict between Uganda and Rwanda

“Actually we have suffered much since most of our members had businesses in Rwanda which were affected. As a result, many are no longer saving nor are they picking loans for business investments,” Byamukama said.

He says the cooperative is looking forward to acquiring land titles to protect, secure and safeguard the cooperative’s capital assets

“There should be modalities put in place to ensure that all our land gets titles to avoid instances of land grabbing which is a common practice today.”

Kabale District Commercial Officer, Erasmus Natumanya advised that delegates be availed with by-laws to guide them in cooperative legal frameworks.

Robert Asiimwe, a representative from Uganda Co-operative Alliance thanked delegates for patronizing their cooperative.

A leading cooperative

One of the leading cooperatives in South Western Uganda, Lyamujungu Co-operative Financial Services Ltd (LCFSL) started in August 1984 with 16 members.

It was registered by the Registrar of Co-operatives in 1990 under Reg. No 5695 and mandated to operate within greater Kabale District.

Currently, it has 7 branches and four outreaches, with a total of 23,000 members, total savings of Shs 4.1bn, total share capital of Shs 3.05bn, a net surplus of Shs 301m, and a loan portfolio of 8.2bn.

According to its General Manager, Lyamujungu is keen to convert into a Microfinance Deposit-taking Institution (MDI) in the next 5 years.

“Through this new law where Bank of Uganda is to take on some cooperatives in terms of supervision and guidance, we see Lyamujungu getting promoted to a Tier 3 MDI,” says Byamukama.

He urged the cooperators to improve on their savings and buy more share capital to anticipate further institutional growth and support.

“There is need to encourage our members to develop a saving culture in a bid to foster the SACCO’s operations for growth and development.”

He, however, warned its members to desist from multiple borrowing that has resulted in poor loan repayments.

The meeting also recommended that capital expenditures be minimized until the financial environment normalises.

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