Why Government plans to fund churches

May 14, 2019

Kasolo said they will work with Calvary Temple church, which has over 40 women groups monitored under Calvary Transformation Ministries.

CHURCH  LOANS   WOMEN  GROUPS

The Government is working out a strategy to support churches in a bid to offer financial support, especially to different faith-based women groups.

State Minister for Microfinance Haruna Kyeyune Kasolo said this on Saturday while closing a three-day ‘Deborah Women conference' at Calvary Temple in Kyotera town council.

According to the minister, they chose to use churches to reach out to several disadvantaged groups which have, for long, appealed for financial support.

He said that the strategy is aimed at empowering women to fight poverty and boost their incomes through development activities.

"I want to work with the women groups through their churches to boost their incomes. This will help them to have a better standard of living and to develop the economy as well," he said.

 

He further noted that since churches appeal to multitudes of people, they will have to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with Microfinance Support Centre for a successful formal process.

In the mean time, the minister added, they are using the strategy in Kasese district where the Catholic churches are accessing different loans to support their groups.

In Kyotera district, Kasolo said they will work with Calvary Temple church, which has over 40 women groups monitored under Calvary Transformation Ministries.

"We consider working with only active groups to access these loans at 12 percent interest. This is a bit low compared to the 20 percent requested by banks," he said.

He further appealed to women to be creative with the loans and urged them to save whatever they can and limit their spending on things that are not essential in their lives.

 Apostle Christine Mitala


Bishop Eldad Nyanja, who heads the Calvary Transformation Ministries, applauded the opportunity and appealed to the minister to fast track the process. He said that this was a wise idea since government leaders cannot reach everyone in every community.

He expects more than 500 women to benefit from the loans since each established group has an average of 15 people with small and large-scale projects.

Nyanja explained that women are trustworthy compared to men in terms of utilising loans, adding that he is confident they will use the loans to achieve their goal. 

"President Yoweri Museveni has always encouraged people to form co-operatives in order to attract funding. Even in our churches, we had to form them so that we can work together and benefit from the government support," he said.

Further still, Nyanja added that the church is the voice of the community whereby they reach all people regardless of their faith, culture, tribe and other affiliations for development purposes.

 Haruna Kasolo

Domestic Violence
According to Pastor Allen Nyanja, the conference initiator, more than 300 women discussed their role in combating domestic violence which has torn marriages apart. They shared ideas and challenges after which they came up with solutions to overcome domestic and marital challenges. 

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