KABALE, September 2, 2024 – Boasting almost 40,000 members, Lyamujungu SACCO domiciled in Kigezi Subregion, recently attained 40 years of providing excellent services to members, although the institution was unable to mark the milestone due to unavoidable circumstances.
According to Bernard Twenda, Founding Board Chairman, Lyamujungu SACCO was formed by 16 members on August 16, 1984 under a tree at Kizinda Primary School in Lyamujungu village, Nyakasharara Parish, Kaharo Subcounty in Ndorwa East Constituency, Kabale district.
“I am happy to see that Lyamujungu SACCO we started with my other colleagues under a tree is celebrating 40 years of excellence. Even if I die now, I will leave a legacy behind,” he noted while appearing on a radio programme where he said the SACCO was officially registered in 1990 and given No.5695.
The SACCO was named after the first white missionary to visit Lyamujungu Village in Nyakasharara Parish, Kaharo Sub-county in Kabale district.
Why the SACCO had to be formed
Twende said expensive commercial bank loans at the time pushed the original members to form the SACCO which has over the decades provided cheap loans to its members for livelihood improvement.
“We started this SACCO because we couldn’t afford bank loans, neither did we have the mortgages to access loans,” he said, expressing happiness that the SACCO members now access cheap loans from the SACCO to improve their livelihoods, and change lifestyles.
“We wanted people to get away from sleeping on the mats to the mattress and also people to get out from grass thatched houses to permanent houses. which Lyamujungu SACCO has so far addressed in Kigezi region,” he added.
Reasons for the SACCO’s steady growth
Twenda attributes the growth of the SACCO to forward-looking board and management who have worked tirelessly while observing the cooperative principles, thus attracting 39,290 members.
Particularly, he lauded former treasurer, Benon Kanyima for exhibiting transparency, and ensuring the safety of the members’ savings. I thank Mr. Benon Kanyima who was our treasurer for a long time and kept our money safely,” he said.
Twende also attributed the growth of Lyamujungu SACCO to the support of the country’s cooperative apex bodies like Uganda Cooperative Alliance [UCA], and Uganda Cooperative Savings and Credit Union Limited [UCSCU].
He said through UCA, he was able to visit Canada to benchmark how SACCOs in Canada were performing. He said the knowledge acquired from SACCOs in Canada helped Lyamujungu SACCO to grow. “By the time I retired in 2009, Lyamujungu SACCO had 2 branches plus the head office,” said Twenda.
Stanley Ainomugisha, current board chairman, however said they could not hold public celebrations marking 40 years of the SACCO to allow the completion of the construction of a two-storied building in the premises of the SACCO headquarters, hinting that the SACCO will instead celebrate a golden jubilee
“We had suggested that… we can celebrate the 40 years of excellence but we realised that if we go into celebrations, the construction plans may collapse. So, we want to celebrate 50 years when we have concluded the construction,” Ainomugisha said.
According to Dicky Byamukama, General Manager, Lyamujungu SACCO has grown because of adhering to cooperative principles, although he added members’ buying of shares continues to push the SACCO forward.
“Shares are a backbone for the SACCO to develop. We were able to survive the COVID-19 pandemic because our members continued to buy shares,” Byamukama said.
According to Penina Kirodi, Chairperson Supervisory Committee [SUPCO], following the law, guiding principles and policies has enabled Lyamujungu SACCO to become a strong financial cooperative in the Kigezi Subregion.
“At Lyamujungu SACCO, we follow the cooperative principles, and values. We follow the Cooperative Societies’ Act 1991, which was amended in 2020 and also respect other laws governing the cooperatives like the Cooperative Societies Regulations 1992, the Microfinance and Money Lenders Act, and our leaders have also intensified some policies that have enabled our SACCO to grow big,” she explained.
Some of the guiding policies at Lyamujungu SACCO are; the lending policy, human resource policy, accounting, and ICT policies among many others, even though she explains that institutions like Association of Microfinance Institutions of Uganda [AMFIU], Agriterra, and aBi Trust offered finances to construct produce stores for its members.
On the other hand, she said checks and balances through internal audits ensure the security of the funds and assets.
Call to SACCO members and others
Kirodi challenged fellow members to keep updating their accounts if Lyamujungu SACCO is to keep growing strong but called for other members of the public to join the SACCO.
“I am appealing to all the members to keep updating their accounts and also continue to save with the SACCO so that we continue moving forward,” she said.
SACCO members speak out
Norah Twenda, a resident of Nyakasharara Parish, Kaharo Sub County in Ndorwa East constituency, Kabale district said: “Lyamujungu SACCO helped our family to create wealth.”
“I, and my husband Benard Twenda were primary teachers but when Lyamujungu started, we left teaching and started growing sorghum, and other crops, and the rest is history. Our family is doing well because of Lyamujungu SACCO. We have managed to educate our children using Lyamujungu loans. We also bought plots of land totaling about 8 acres. Our area being so remote, we don’t have hydroelectricity but through Lyamujungu we managed to purchase a strong solar and we can now watch Television,” she said.
“We got a loan and constructed an underground water system. We also constructed a permanent house, and we are also keeping poultry because Lyamujungu SACCO,” she added.
James Mugisha, a resident of Nkombe village, Katokye Parish in Kyanamira Sub-county joined Lyamujungu SACCO in 2007 and has no regrets for taking that decision. He has managed to buy plots of land and bought a car using cheap loans from Lyamujungu SACCO.
The SACCO business
Currently, the Cooperative has 40,000 members, Shs 8.7 billion share capital, Shs 12bln in total savings, and Shs 21bln loan portfolio.
Some of the SACCO services include; ordinary savings, fixed savings, keeping members’ documents like land titles and academic documents, medical loan, boda-boda loan, building loans, WASH product loan, and home clean improvement loan among others at between Shs 50,000-200mln attracting a reducing interest of 2 percent per month.
Expansion
Meanwhile, Lyamujungu SACCO plans to extend its services to greater Kigezi districts of Kisoro, Rubanda, Rukungiri, Rukiga, Kanungu, and Kampala.
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