Africa-Press – Uganda. A section of teachers who got loans from the Adjumani Teachers’ Savings and Credit Cooperative Organisation (Sacco) have failed to repay them, leaving the organisation on the brink on collapse.
The Sacco management said they are yet to recover Shs85 million from the teachers. They said some of the loans were got as far back as 2017, adding that some of the teachers are difficult to trace.
Speaking during a meeting at the district headquarters yesterday, Mr Manson Akweru, the chairperson of the Board of Directors of the Adjumani Teachers’ Sacco, said: “The year, we started in 2013 to 2016 we made profits, but from 2017, our teachers started defaulting. We have been thrown into an accumulated debt of Shs85m. To date, we have failed to recover the money from the teachers.”
The Sacco management said many teachers could not afford to repay the loans because of multiple borrowing from other money lenders.
“…we are having administration issues and now, we have only one staff. The Sacco could not [afford to] pay the salaries of all the staff so we decided to leave only the manager,” Mr Akweru said.
The Sacco, which has 503 members from both primary and secondary schools, was formed to help teachers borrow loans at a low-interest rate compared to banks and other microfinance institutions.
Donation
The Sacco currently has a share capital of Shs5.8m. In 2013, President Museveni donated Shs30m to the Sacco. At the time, the Sacco had Shs6.4m as savings from the members.
The district chairperson, Mr Ben Anyama, wondered whether the Sacco was running as a business or a charity organisation.
“What did you do to the loan defaulters? Who are these teachers? Where is the profit from 2016 to date? This Sacco was mismanaged,” he said.
He added: “We must find solutions to this Sacco because this is government money. We have identified many mistakes in the Sacco. I wonder what was happening to the Sacco in 2022 and in 2023 because the summary of the report presented indicates that the Sacco stopped operations in 2021.”
The clerk to the council, Mr Kizito Mawadri, said there is a need to engage the district auditors to carry out a financial audit of the Sacco and present its findings after one month.
The Adjumani District Woman Member of Parliament, Ms Jesca Ababiku, said: “I am disappointed that this Sacco was mismanaged, where are the fruits? What should I report to the person who gave you Shs30 million? We followed this money and carried the money. Let the audit report come out and we get to know where the problem is.”
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