Kadaga furious over SACCOs Bill delay

By Edward Kayiwa

The Speaker of Parliament, Rebecca Kadaga, has challenged the state minister for micro-finance, Caroline Amali, to fast-track the Tier IV financial institutions Bill, which will regulate micro-finance institutions in the country.

Kadaga told the minister to be mindful of the “urgent need to protect the interests of the public and micro-finance institutions from fraud and exploitation.”

She said the absence of the law had heightened fraud in the micro-finance sector, leaving both clients and the micro-finance institutions vulnerable.

“There is a lot of fraud happening in micro-finance institutions and it would be better for the law to be passed now to protect both the institutions and their members,” Kadaga said.

According to the Speaker, the Bill has been stuck with Cabinet for the last four years, despite several promises to table it in Parliament.

“I am very angry at the delay to produce the Bill in Parliament. It was promised four years ago and up to now, nothing has been done,” she said.

Kadaga said she would find someone to raise the issue of the Bill on the floor of Parliament and with the Prime Minister to ensure it is expedited.

She made the remarks during a visit to the micro-finance support centre recently to assess the level of success and challenges facing the centre.

In her response, Amali said the Government was already looking into the law and would soon table it before Parliament.

“We have made a lot of preparations, although a few hiccups still exist. However, I believe that soon, we shall have the law in place,” she said.

The Speaker also complained about the poor performance of SACCOS in Busoga region, which, she said, are chocking on poor management, financial illiteracy and capacity to operate gainfully.

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