FORT PORTAL – Emyooga SACCOs in the Rwenzori Sub-region have been advised to apply for the permanent registration before their probation certificates expire.
Joseph Lutalo, the assistant registrar of cooperatives in the Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Cooperatives [MTIC] said most of the probation certificates for Emyooga SACCOs in the country have a few days left to expire, the official adding that the SACCOs need to start the process of acquiring a permanent registration.
Lutalo was speaking on Tuesday in Kabarole district during the sensitisation of Emyooga SACCO leaders on the process of acquiring permanent registration and licence.
“You were given a probation certificate which expires after two years and now you are ready to apply for a permanent registration. However, you need to be very organised as a SACCO because if you don’t fulfill the requirements, you will not get it,” Lutalo said.
He said applying for permanent registration requires SACCO leaders to hold annual general meetings [AGMs] and have the latest audited reports as presented in the AGMs. He said they need to have members’ schedules, filing annual returns, minutes from previous AGMs, and a recommendation from the commercial officer.
“A commercial officer can recommend either an extension of probation, permanent registration, or deregistration. You, therefore, need to be smart,” he said.
He encouraged members to increase their share capital and embrace a saving culture to enable them to grow their SACCOs.
The Kabarole district principal commercial officer, Christine Kengozi appealed to all Emyooga SACCO leaders to work with the commercial officers for the sustainability of the programme.
The Kabarole Zonal Area manager for the Microfinance Support Centre [MSC], Emmanuel Mbogha said most of the Emyooga SACCOs in the region are performing very well and therefore deserve permanent registration.
The Kabarole Zonal Area comprises 12 districts which include Kabarole, Kasese, Bunyangabu, Kyenjojo, Kyegegwa, Kitagwenda, Kamwenge, Ntoroko, Bundibugyo, Fort Portal City, Kassanda, and Mubende.
Mbogha said MSC initially disbursed Shs 15 billion to Emyooga SACCOs in this area but as of December last year, the total disbursement was Shs 21bln.
He attributed the increase in disbursements to the additional seed capital to some of the SACCOs that were doing well.
“In Kabarole Zonal Area, we have 506 SACCOs. Some are doing extremely very well and others are doing poorly. I call upon those that are not doing well to improve and own their SACCOs,” he said.
He appealed to SACCO leaders to apply for the additional seed capital, saying slots are still there for SACCOs that could not make it last year.
Mbogha said only those SACCOs which are doing very well are likely to get permanent registration if they follow the right procedure and fulfill all the requirements.
The Kabarole district deputy resident district commissioner, Paul Bwire Ogalo warned those who have defaulted on Emyooga money that action would soon be taken against them if they don’t refund the money.
Ogalo commended veterans and market vendors’ Emyooga SACCOs for doing well and implored them to keep the candle burning. He urged the youth in the region to improve the performance of their SACCOs.
Emyooga programme is a presidential initiative on wealth and job creation that was launched in August 2019 as part of the broad government strategy targeting to transform 68 percent of homesteads from subsistence to market-oriented production with the overall objective of promoting job creation and improving household incomes.
https://thecooperator.news/minister-kasolo-directs-emyooga-saccos-not-to-pay-for-audit-services/
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