Africa-Press – Uganda. A parliamentary committee has recommended that the Police Exodus Sacco immediately halts deductions of funds on the police officers’ salary until a membership audit has been carried out by the registrar of cooperative societies.
The recommendations come after an inquiry on the operation of the Police Exodus by the Committee on Defence and Internal Affairs that indicated that there was fraud and irregularities in the sacco management.
“The Registrar of Cooperatives Societies proceeds over the Exodus Sacco under Section 2(2) of the Cooperatives Societies Act and immediately institutes a membership audit of the society. Effectively, the mandatory deductions on officers’ salaries and contributions for members’ savings should stop until a comprehensive membership register is compiled on the condition that only willing members are registered,” the report stated.
The parliamentary inquiry followed complaints by police officers that there were irregularities in the management of the Sacco and they were unable to access their savings.
The Police Exodus Sacco, which was started in 2007 to improve the welfare of police officers, has about 42,000 members. It has been dogged with fraud and mismanagement to the extent that at one time all documents were burnt. As a result, it is difficult to know how much each personnel had saved.
An audit would require the registrar of cooperative societies to travel around the country since most members of the Sacco are in the countryside.
The Sacco would also have to register its members again on a voluntary basis as per the Sacco laws, which would take months and would affect the general performance of the Sacco since its major income is from savings of their members.
However, the parliamentary committee said their recommendation to stop deductions would only apply to savings, and not loan repayments.
“All members with outstanding loan obligations should continue to pay the Sacco,” the report stated.
“All deductions that were/are made in the form of retirement benefits contrary to the Pensions Act (Cap 286), 1946, should be refunded with interest to the affected personnel,” the report also recommended.
The Police Exodus Sacco has been deducting 50 percent of the officers’ savings as retirement benefit, which means that they couldn’t access those funds until they retire from the police force.
Some of the police officers interviewed by the committee said they were being coerced to join the Police Exodus Sacco against their will.
Those who refuse are not given recommendation letters by their superiors to get loans from other financial institutions.
Most of the affected personnel were those who have joined the police as constables or cadets. According to the Sacco statistics, 91 percent of their members are junior officers from the rank of constable to inspector.
However, senior officers are the major beneficiaries in the loan services taking at least Shs34b of the Shs75b that was given out to members as loans.
The Chairman of the Police Exodus Sacco, Mr Wilson Omoding, did not deny key issues raised by the committee but he said the report did not adequately address the progress they have made since he took over leadership in 2020.
“In response to the recommendations, Exodus SACCO management has written to the registrar of cooperatives regarding the issues raised in the report, providing supporting documentation. Additionally, management has communicated with the Police Council, as the SACCO was established by a resolution of the council in 2007. The recommendations from both entities will guide the next steps,” he told this publication yesterday.
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