SHEEMA – Kigarama People’s SACCO, a historical financial institution hailing from Masheruka town council Kanyeganyegye ward in Sheema Municipality, is on the verge of collapsing due to leadership squabbles.
This started in 2018 after the end of the two terms of Grace Rukumbagaza, the board Chairman. SACCO members sought to change its leadership but failed.
After assuming board office in 2013, Rukumbagaza started manipulating everything to keep himself in power says, John Muhabwe, one of Kigarama People’s SACCO members.
“He started by manipulating the delegates who are supposed to attend the Annual General Meeting (AGM) and we kept on demanding for change until he reached the extent of appointing the vetting committee using the board instead of electing them at the AGM,” Muhabwe said.
To their surprise, Rukumbagaza held sham elections insisting that he will not leave office until he is done with another term.
This annoyed most SACCO members who appealed to the Resident District Commissioner, District Commercial Officer and later to Joseph William Kitandwe, the then registrar of co-operatives to allow members to conduct fresh elections to choose a new board chairman.
“I was the General Secretary and when our term of office ended in 2012, we elected Rukumbagaza as our new board Chairman. His term of office ended in 2018 after serving six years as a Chairman for the supervisory committee and now six years as the board Chairman,” says John Muhabwe’ one of Kigarama People’s SACCO.
After receiving the petition, Muhabwe says the registrar in his capacity issued a road map directing the board Chairman to hold fresh elections and also for the AGM to elect the vetting committee.
“After realizing that the Chairman’s years of office had expired, the registrar directed that there should be elections and also gave us criteria on how to select delegates,” he said.
Muhabwe says together with Juliet Kyosimire, the General Manager Kigarama People’s SACCO, they selected 200 delegates balancing the 6 zones which was not the case before.
Upon putting in place all legal processes to hold the AGM, the Chairman rejected the plans thus suing the registrar for interfering with the SACCO affairs.
“When he saw 65 delegates picked from the headquarters, Rukumbagaza realized he will not survive the vote and he instead rushed to Mbarara High Court claiming that the registrar was not supposed to indulge in the process of electing the new board,” Muhabwe said.
According to Muhabwe the matter was filed by the SACCO Chairman on 28th November 2019 at Mbarara High Court before Lady Justice Joyce Kavuma.
During the preliminary hearing, the applicant was represented by M/S Ampurire Associate Advocates then the 1st respondent represented by the Office of the Attorney General’s Chambers, while the 2nd-8th respondents were represented by M/S Mugabi, Shyka & Co. Advocates who all presented their submissions before the Judge.
On 22nd October, 2021, Judge Kavuma dismissed the case with costs on grounds that the application was brought outside the time limit given by the statute.
“I find that this application is statute barred and incompetent before this Court for being filed out of time without seeking extension time. Accordingly, the application is hereby dismissed with costs,” read part of the ruling.
The Vice Chairman Godwin Arikwera, confirmed that he is now a passive leader since the Chairman side-lined him in all the leadership affairs of the SACCO.
“Currently, I don’t have any mandate at Kigarama People’s SACCO because the Chairman usurped all my powers as his deputy,” Arikwera explained.
Also, Osbert Amanya, another member of Kigarama People’s SACCO says, Rukumbagaza used his powers as a Chairman to buy a SACCO van and open more branches without the AGM approval.
“We’ve spent almost three years without holding any AGM, his term of office expired; so how did he go ahead to purchase a SACCO van and opening other branches in Ibanda and Mbarara without members’ consent? Amanya asked.
Also, Mzee Kahima Samson, one of the founder members, who was chased from the delegates meeting in 2019 by the accused Chairman also complained that Rukumbagaza must leave the top leadership for Kigarama People’s SACCO to move forward.
“It’s true we voted you expecting great things but that should not make you to refuse handing over power. Are you waiting up to a time when Jesus Christ comes back?” Kahima asked.
Way forward
Muhabwe says, Kigarama People’s SACCO can only restore its lost glory if the current Chairman is replaced.
“For the last 15 years he has led the SACCO, what else does he want to achieve? He should pave way for the members to decide who should lead the SACCO,” Muhabwe advised.
He adds that if the Chairman does not show any intentions of appeal, they are ready to write to the registrar of Cooperatives calling for fresh elections during the 2020/2021 AGM.
“We are still waiting because 14 days expired on Saturday which court allows for one to appeal but if we find that he has not appealed we shall write to the registrar to call for our AGM,” Muhabwe emphasized.
On his part, Amanya says they are not ready to count the total compensation if the Chairman has not stepped out.
“We are not the ones who opened a case, so awarding us costs was irregular and we cannot meet the costs when he is still the serving Chairman because he has all the chances of getting all the money from our SACCO,” says Amanya.
He adds that plans of getting an external auditor are underway to assess the SACCO’s finances.
“We are in the process of bringing an external auditor to assess the loss the Chairman has caused to the SACCO because we have almost spent 3 years without holding an AGM. We don’t know the SACCO’s turnover neither do we know how much he spent on buying a van nor on opening other branches,” Amanya appealed.
Allan Buhanda, the District Commercial Officer (DCO) Sheema District advised Kigarama People’s SACCO members to organize pre-AGMs and have a legitimate board.
When Chairman Rukumbagaza was contacted to comment whether he is willing to appeal the matter or not, he answered that he cannot speak to strangers.
“I don’t speak to anyone whom I don’t know,” he briefly replied.
Kigarama People’s SACCO started as a public limited company with only 24 members and later registered as a SACCO on 11th April, 2005 but currently it has a total membership of 8797.
https://thecooperator.news/cooperatives-given-up-to-november-to-hold-covid-19-delayed-agms/
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