Teachers' union launches drive to recover SACCO loans in Busoga
During the meeting, some teachers’ SACCO leaders raised concerns over alleged mismanagement of members’ savings and loans obtained from Walimu.
Leaders of teachers’ SACCOs in the Busoga region pose for a group photo after attending the meeting. (Photo by Doreen Musingo)
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JINJA — The Walimu National Teachers' Cooperative Union has launched a nationwide drive to recover outstanding loans and revive struggling teachers’ savings and credit cooperative organisations (SACCOs) amid concerns over poor financial management and declining loan repayment.
The campaign, which has started in the Busoga sub-region, specifically in Jinja City, seeks to reconcile SACCO accounts, recover loans and restore crippled teachers’ SACCOs so that they can resume lending and saving.
Charles Tenywa, the Walimu National Teachers' Cooperative Union vice-chairperson, said the union had resolved to move across the country to identify struggling teachers’ SACCOs and help them return to operation.
“We are here to see how we can make loan recoveries, reconcile and revive those SACCO’s which are crippled,” Tenywa said during a meeting with teachers’ SACCO leaders on Saturday (September 26) at Jinja Main Street Primary School.
He cited some of the challenges facing the SACCOs as inadequate management skills, saying some of them received money but failed to manage it properly, resulting in loan repayment difficulties.
Tenywa said Walimu wants to restore the original purpose of the cooperative union by ensuring that teachers access affordable financing for income-generating activities to improve their welfare.
Tenywa rejected claims that Walimu had ceased operating, saying the cooperative union was a financial institution supervised through the cooperative regulatory framework and it focuses on teachers’ financial welfare.
Tenywa said the new Walimu leadership was committed to rebuilding the cooperative and restoring teachers’ confidence in its financial services.
During the meeting, some teachers’ SACCO leaders raised concerns over alleged mismanagement of members’ savings and loans obtained from Walimu.
Resty Musubika, the headteacher of Buwenda Primary School and also chairperson of Jinja Teachers' SACCO, said her group had previously been functioning well until its former management allegedly obtained a Sh350m loan from Walimu without adequately informing members.
She explained that the current leadership found a statement showing that they received money, but they were unable to establish a record about the expenditure yet members were also still demanding their savings.
“The members are demanding their savings. We have a very big challenge as the new administration because we were not part of the management, which used the money,” Musubika said.
Gulu Kamayiko, the chairperson of Bulubandi teachers' SACCO, alleged that his group received Sh30m, but claimed the money was subsequently taken by an individual who was not a teacher.
Kamayiko said he had been brought into the arrangement to sign for the funds on behalf of teachers, but the money could not be accounted for.
He said the incident had left the SACCO struggling to explain the whereabouts of the money.
Simon Bawa, the chairperson of Bulopa teachers' SACCO in Kamuli district, said teachers should be given clear information about the management and repayment of funds provided through the cooperative system.
He said they need more support from Walimu by reducing on the interest rates and also reducing the penalties against groups that are failing to clear the loans on time. He added that the money was intended to operate as a revolving fund so that more teachers could benefit after previous borrowers repaid their loans.
He urged teachers who have benefited from the funds to honour their repayment obligations to enable others to access the same opportunity.
He called for stronger financial management, transparency and accountability within teachers’ SACCOs to prevent the loss of members’ savings and ensure that government-supported funds achieve their intended purpose.