Kumi officials put Emyooga funds defaulters on notice
KUMI, August 20, 2024 – The defaulters of Emyooga funds in Kumi district are worried after the district leadership resolved to name and shame them on the local radio stations.
The decision to name and shame the defaulters was arrived at during a meeting between Emyooga SACCO leaders and the district leaders, chaired by the Resident District Commissioner [RDC] Ahamada Washaki on Monday.
In 2021 government through Microfinance Support Centre [MSC] disbursed Shs 1.68 billion to Kumi district which was distributed to 52 Emyooga SACCOs spread across the three constituencies of Kumi County, Kanyum County and Kumi Municipality with each receiving Shs 560 million.
However, three years down the road, the district is yet to recover most of the money from the beneficiaries despite several reminders to them to honour their debt obligations.
While commenting on the loan recovery status report, Thomas Opolot, Kumi District Commercial Officer revealed that so far only Shs 100 million has been recovered.
According to him, there are some Emyooga SACCOs with members who have not remitted even a single cent to the revolving fund.
He attributed low recovery of the Emyooga funds to political interference.
Opolot explained that there are some politicians who have been urging the beneficiaries not to pay back the money, claiming it was given by President Yoweri Museveni as a token of appreciation to the locals for supporting the ruling National Resistance Movement [NRM] party.
As a result of nonpayment, Opolot said some of the SACCO members have not benefited from Emyooga Programme. He called upon the SACCO leaders to encourage members who received the money to pay back so that others can also benefit since it is revolving fund.
On his part, RDC Washaki directed Opolot to generate a list of all Emyooga defaulters and send it to his his office so that he can publish on radio.
The decision to name and shame the defaulters is in line with the directive issued by the Minister of State for Microfinance, Haruna Kasolo Kyeyune during his visit to Kumi in November, 2023.
The RDC noted that continuous defaulting on loans was failing the objective of Emyooga Programme, which is to create jobs and wealth.
The RDC warned the area politicians against interfering with the recovery of the money in fear of being voted out in the next elections.
Meanwhile Kumi LCV chairperson, Nelson Mandela Elungat tasked Opolot to grade SACCOs according to performance in terms of loan payments and give them repayment deadlines, starting with elected leaders’ SACCOs.
He added that government programmes in the district should not be allowed to fail because of a few political individuals.
Roseline Adongo Luhoni, the Kumi Chief Administrative Officer said that leaders should shun fear and take action if the Emyooga Programme is to achieve its objectives.
“Some political leaders fear taking hard decisions in fear of losing votes, but this affects the objectives of government programmes,” she said.
Emyooga Programme 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.
The initiative is centered on various 18 categories/enterprises covering majority of the hitherto, financially excluded Ugandans engaged in similar specialised enterprise categories. These categories include; mechanics, carpenters, welders, drivers, boda boda riders, plumbers, restaurant owners, and journalists among others.
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