LIRA -Lira City Emooyga SACCOs are appealing for extra funds from the government, saying they would like to boost their businesses further and recruit more members.
The government through the Microfinance Support Centre [MSC] has been providing additional funding of Shs 20 million to the best-performing Emyooga SACCOs in the country.
Initially, each Emyooga SACCO was given Shs 30 million under the Emyooga Programme for members to borrow and engage in income-generating activities.
At the moment, the loan recovery in Lira City stands at Shs 86.4 million out of the Shs 1.6 billion that was disbursed to the city for the various Emyooga SACCOs in the city.
According to officials, a total of Shs 560mln has been disbursed to SACCOs such as; Lira Municipality Carpenters Emooyga SACCO, Lira Municipality Salon Operators Emooyga SACCO, Lira Municipality Fishermen Emooyga SACCO, Lira Main Market Vendors SACCO, Lira Municipality Produce Dealers SACCO, and Lira Municipality Tailors Emooyga SACCO.
Bernard Anyeko, the general secretary of Lira Municipality Taxi Operators Emooyga SACCO said that they invested the money in a taxi which brings in income every day.
However, Anyeko while speaking to this reporter, appealed to government for extra seed capital of Shs 30mln, saying that many people want to join the SACCO so that they develop themselves.
“We called upon the government to give the additional seed capital to all the Emooyga SACCO groups in the different constituencies so that a better service delivery is realised and wellbeing of the members is improved,” he said.
Peace Bridget, Apio the chairperson of Lira Municipality Journalist Emooyga SACCO said they requested extra funding a month ago but they are still waiting for the response from the concerned government officials.
Apio added they would like to recruit more members into the SACCO to boost share capital, which she said is good for the growth of the loan business.
“We made our request for the additional funding in April 2023 and we are told to wait. “It may be hard for our interest to grow if the additional funding is not given on time because at the moment we have little money in our pool that cannot even recruit more members,” added Apio.
Lillian Grace Ocare, the Lira City deputy town clerk said only three Emooyga SACCO groups have so far applied for extra funding of Shs 20mln which other selected Emyooga SACCOs across the country have received.
Emooyga fund has been able to transform the lives of people who formed themselves into groups and followed the procedures of getting loans.
Geoffrey Okao who is employed by Lira Municipality Taxi Operator Emooyga SACCO as a conductor appreciated the job offered to him, saying it has helped him to buy four goats.
Okao said before he was employed as a taxi conductor by the SACCO administrators, life was so hard that he could hardly raise Shs 10,000 a day even as he was a hawker.
“I can now get some profits which were too hard before I was employed. I now have my four goats that I have bought using the profit gained from my job and I’m able to save with both the SACCO and village savings and loan association.”
Bonny Odur, a member of the SACCO said he has been able to pay school fees for his children and cater for the other family needs through the loans he acquires from the SACCO.
“From the start of the SACCO I have borrowed loans twice to help my family and now I want to borrow another one so that I can clear the school fees of my children as it has been helping out,” Odur said.
https://thecooperator.news/lira-taxi-operators-emyooga-sacco-on-growth-path/
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