By Andrew Masinde

Joy Mbabazi depended on her husband for everything, a state of affairs that reduced her to a useless pauper in her home.

“My husband never respected me; to him I was just a dependant, a parasite. One morning as I was listening to radio, I heard Winfred Ngamiel calling on women to join the group that was to soon start operations in the area.

She explained a lot of things that would help women to be productive and financially independent,” she says.

Mbabazi adds that she picked interest and joined immediately. “I realised that if women in Uganda joined hands, they would kick out poverty.

Today, my husband respects me because I make a big contribution in the home,” she says. Mbabazi acquired a loan from the savings scheme and opened a shop in Fort Portal town. She has also bought land, owns poultry and plans to start a rearing goats.

The beginning

Born in Tororo district in 1978, Nyamiel moved to Kabarole to work in a tea plantation. She resided in Kaswa parish, Busoro sub-county, a place where domestic violence was rife because of widespread poverty.

After witnessing domestic violence, with children and women being persistently battered by their husbands, Nyamiel hatched a plan to start a SACCO.

In 2011, she started moving around villages encouraging women to come together and exchange ideas on how they could start income-generating projects to lift them out of poverty.

Many women joined and since most of them were farmers, the group would work on one member’s gardens for a week and move to another for the next week until all the members benefited.

With time, they realised the system was helping all of them increase their yields. They also agreed to start collecting money among themselves that they would give to one individual at the end of every month.

“We started with sh3,000 that members brought every two days. I discovered that when a woman is determined, nothing would stand between them and their goal.

We discussed how each woman would invest the money given to her,” Nyamiel says. Many of members set up roadside stalls where they would sell their produce and as they continued to earn they expanded their stalls and opened shops.

Joy Mbabazi (CENTRE) a beneficiary of Kabarole Rural Agri Development SACCO displays items at her shop

The women then agreed to increase the savings to sh5,000 and later sh10,000 per person. They saved the money in a safe and soon it became too small to accommodate the money.

This forced the group to open a joint bank account in Fort Portal. The cost of running an account in the bank soon became high and Nyamiel suggested that they open their own SACCO.

They named it Kabarole Rural Agri Development SACCO. The SACCO now has 265 registered members some of whom hold savings accounts while others have fixed deposit accounts.

“I was among the first people to open an account and it has made wonders for me. I never used to save the money I earned.  I would give it to my husband who would decide on how it should be used,” a beneficiary, Cissy Nyangoma says.

Florence Kugonza, a member says she could not take her savings to the bank because her earnings were little.

“When our SACCO started, I was able to save some money. I made sure I opened a fixed deposit account not to get tempted to withdraw it anytime,” she explains.

Kugonza got a loan from the SACCO and started a piggery that has helped her pay school fees for her children and look after her family.

She is now looking forward to building a house.

Loan system

The SACCO gives out school fees, business and agricultural loans. Members who want to get loans are first screened to control the default rate.

The borrowers are advised on the most viable ventures to undertake. SACCO officials visit each member to assess the progress of the projects.

“We help members start projects and support with the labour. They are now able to save and provide for their families,” Nyamiel says.

She adds that they plan to spread their operations to neighbouring villages so that others benefit from the project.

FACT FILE

Nominee: Winfred Nyamiel

Innovation: Saving scheme

Quote: “I discovered that when a woman is determined, nothing would stand between them and their goal.”

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