Lira City community village savings and loans associations groups have received a shillings 143 million boost.

Health minister, Jane Ruth Aceng delivered the funds to beneficiaries in Lira City's east and west city divisions on Saturday and Sunday respectively.

A total of 185 groups, whose members are venturing in poultry, piggery, produce and VSLAs, among others received shillings 500,000 each.

Aceng, who is also the Woman MP of Lira City, launched the disbursement on Saturday at Adekokwot ward where she gave a total of shillings 43.5 million to 87 groups of the east division and on Sunday, she concluded at Lira Primary School disbursing shillings 49 million to 98 groups.

Health Minister Dr. Aceng seated in the middle of the crowd at Adekokwok in Lira City East on Saturday during the disbursement of business grant

The beneficiary groups are youth, people with disability, widows, the elderly and women.  

Aceng said the money she gave to electorates was her saving for the Constituency Development Fund given to all MPs monthly, which was saved for two years of the stay in Parliament.

Aceng said her target is to support a total of 817 registered existing groups in her constituencies for the period she will be in Parliament.

She explained she came up with this initiative to supplement some of the Government programmes like the Youth Livelihood Fund and the Parish Development Model. She appealed to the beneficiaries to put this money which she gave as a grant into good use.

“The money I gave you is a grant, not a loan, revolve it in your groups to benefit the members and eradicate poverty in the households,” Aceng said, reminding the community members to embrace and participate in all government programmes that are intended to eradicate poverty.

Christine Apio, a resident of Anyangapuc Ward in Lira city east, expressed her joy over the initiative of the Woman MP saying this will save the city's vulnerable dwellers from borrowing small business loans from political leaders and money lenders that charge heavy interest on the borrowers.

Adyebo Oyee, the area councillor of Anai Ward to Lira city west division council, welcomed Aceng’s idea saying the monetary support has come in timely when people are grappling to recover from the problems imposed on them by COVID which led to the collapse on small businesses that would employ a large number of city dweller.

Adyebo urged MP Aceng to deploy a team to always equip beneficiaries with financial literacy such that the grant is not wasted on balanced diets and alcohol consumption.

How to spend the cash

Shillings 500.000 has been given to each group of between 20 to 50 members. Any member who borrows pays back with the interest agreed upon by the group. By the end of the year, only generated interest will be shared among the members and the seed capital will remain on the group account.