GULU-Leaders of Gulu Disabled Persons Union [GDPU] have raided members who have failed to meet their loan obligations.
The culprits have had their fabrication workshops, and sewing machines taken over by the union in a bid to recover the money that is needed for other members to use.
Maxwell Ojok, one of the members disclosed in an interview with theCooperator that he has failed to pay back the loan due to high interest.
He revealed that, of the Shs 500, 000 he was given as startup capital, the union has asked him to pay an interest of Shs 260,000, which he said is too high for his business to afford.
Michael Odong, a member of the group noted that he and 15 other colleagues from Gulu district have surrendered their sewing machines after failing to pay back the loans.
Meanwhile, Flora Amony, a resident of Gulu City and a member of GDPU has protested the raids on their businesses, saying it is uncalled for.
Like others, Amony has lost her sewing machine as she failed to pay Shs 760,000 after she received Shs 500,000 startup capital from the group a year ago.
The Centre Programme manager, Faruk Musema revealed that the loans were part of a Shs 200 million operation fund the GDPU received from the development partners in the 2020/2021 financial year.
How however he noted that all the enterprises which included tailoring, fabrication workshops, and small-scale businesses have collapsed which compelled them to repossess the equipment.
He further explained that the low recovery of funds has affected funding to 14 other enterprises adding the union has given them until January for the defaulters to settle their arrears.
“The project is coming to an end in March and we expect those we lent to pay their arrears within this month for the sustainability of the project,” Faruk told theCooperator in an interview.
https://thecooperator.news/pay-your-loans-by-end-of-january-2023-gulu-city-emyooga-saccos-told/
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