Handouts cripple refugees’ SACCO in Lamwo

LAMWO – The continuous giving out of hand-outs has crippled the activities of Paluda Farmers’ SACCO whose members are South Sudanese refugees.

The refugees living in Lamwo district decided to form their own SACCO in 2021 after finding it hard to access financial services from the local commercial banks.

The SACCO would promote savings from which loans would be acquired by members at a cheap interest rate.

However, the handouts from some partners have made some of the SACCO members stop saving or continue with their small businesses.

“Most members have no running enterprises despite receiving hand-outs from the partners,” says Robbert Ocan, the chairperson of the SACCO.

According to Ocan, most of the activities in the SACCO have stalled, with most of the members withdrawing their savings while those who borrowed loans have not paid back because they stopped running their businesses.

“When they [members] get what to eat, they are not creative enough to do business. As we talk now Shs 15, million is out there. They borrowed the money without any reasonable enterprise and at the moment they cannot pay,” he says.

He says he has approached some financial experts for advice on how best the SACCO can run without members being bothered by hand-outs.

Jalia Oryek, a member of the SACCO says biting poverty in the homesteads could not allow some members to save with the SACCO much as they wanted it to grow.

“The reduction of food rations by the Office of the Prime Minister [OPM] has affected us so much. That is why even those members who got loans to do small businesses have nothing to show since all the borrowed money went into feeding their families,’’ she said.

Oryek, a mother of three and street vendor in the refugee settlement area urged the Government of Uganda to support them with financial literacy so that they can be able to manage their businesses better.

“I have been here since 2017, and my hopes for going back home are fading because of the persistent insecurity. That is why we are saying that we should be included in the Government of Uganda programmes just like the host communities,’’ she said.

John Pasquale, the chairperson of refugees in Lamwo Settlement says it would be good if the Government of Uganda included refugees in the Parish Development Model [PDM] to be able to learn how to sustain their enterprises.

Paluda Farmers’ SACCO’S major enterprises were piggery, poultry, horticulture, and giving out loans to members.

A total of 85,000 South Sudanese refugees are settled in the three settlements of Palabek Ogiri, Palabek Kal, and Palabek- Gem.

The refugees fled their country home in 2017 after the government forces launched a manhunt on several militia groups at that time.

At the moment, Uganda is hosting more than 700,000 South Sudanese refugees, the highest numbers ever recorded in history according to UNHCR, statistics.

https://thecooperator.news/returned-south-sudanese-refugees-break-ground-at-farm-cooperative/

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