Saleh attacks Bonna Bagaggawale officials
Jul 12, 2007
STATE Minister for Micro-Finance, Maj. Gen. Salim Saleh has warned the public against over-relying on technocrats in the Bonna Bagaggawale (prosperity-for-all) poverty eradication programme.
By Frederick Kiwanuka
STATE Minister for Micro-Finance, Maj. Gen. Salim Saleh has warned the public against over-relying on technocrats in the Bonna Bagaggawale (prosperity-for-all) poverty eradication programme.
He urged the communities to fight poverty or risk lagging behind if they pin their hope on technocrats.
“It will take you a lot of time because these people in Kampala are not easy,†he said while opening Kapeeka Savings and Credit Cooperative Society (SACCO) at Kapeeka Sports Ground in Nakaseke last Saturday.
He complained about the slow pace the programme was taking because some technocrats were dragging their feet, adding that he wanted Kapeeka SACCO to start in July 2006, but it had taken a year to open.
“If it has taken a year to open one SACCO, how long will it take to open 1,000 SACCOs?â€
Saleh stunned the crowd when he blamed his staff for ‘wasting’ money on hiring tents and buying sodas and snacks served at the function. About half a truck of sodas and numerous boxes of doughnuts were served at the function
“I told these people not to buy sodas. But when I look around, everybody is holding a bottle of soda. If soda costs sh500, then we have spent about sh2m. When you tell them to put that money in SACCOs, they tell you there is no money. I can also see they hired tents. We would have sat under a tree.â€
The minister said the public misconceived the Bonna Bagaggawale programme by thinking that it was based on loans, yet it is based on the NAADS programme. The ministry only builds on NAADS and other government inputs by securing people’s savings and giving out loans for production expansion, he explained.
“The basis of Bonna Bagaggawale is NAADS because our wealth is in agriculture. If you want prosperity, look for NAADS first, but not Saleh.â€
The Kapeeka SACCO chairman, Samwiri Bamweyana, said the society had about 1,000 paid-up members, sh12m in shares and sh10m in members’ deposits.
STATE Minister for Micro-Finance, Maj. Gen. Salim Saleh has warned the public against over-relying on technocrats in the Bonna Bagaggawale (prosperity-for-all) poverty eradication programme.
He urged the communities to fight poverty or risk lagging behind if they pin their hope on technocrats.
“It will take you a lot of time because these people in Kampala are not easy,†he said while opening Kapeeka Savings and Credit Cooperative Society (SACCO) at Kapeeka Sports Ground in Nakaseke last Saturday.
He complained about the slow pace the programme was taking because some technocrats were dragging their feet, adding that he wanted Kapeeka SACCO to start in July 2006, but it had taken a year to open.
“If it has taken a year to open one SACCO, how long will it take to open 1,000 SACCOs?â€
Saleh stunned the crowd when he blamed his staff for ‘wasting’ money on hiring tents and buying sodas and snacks served at the function. About half a truck of sodas and numerous boxes of doughnuts were served at the function
“I told these people not to buy sodas. But when I look around, everybody is holding a bottle of soda. If soda costs sh500, then we have spent about sh2m. When you tell them to put that money in SACCOs, they tell you there is no money. I can also see they hired tents. We would have sat under a tree.â€
The minister said the public misconceived the Bonna Bagaggawale programme by thinking that it was based on loans, yet it is based on the NAADS programme. The ministry only builds on NAADS and other government inputs by securing people’s savings and giving out loans for production expansion, he explained.
“The basis of Bonna Bagaggawale is NAADS because our wealth is in agriculture. If you want prosperity, look for NAADS first, but not Saleh.â€
The Kapeeka SACCO chairman, Samwiri Bamweyana, said the society had about 1,000 paid-up members, sh12m in shares and sh10m in members’ deposits.