Masindi Teachers’ SACCO grapples with 40% account dormancy

Masindi Teachers’ SACCO is facing a challenge of 237 dormant accounts (close to 40% of the total), a situation the SACCO’s Chairperson says affects them significantly.

Isaac Mugaanzi, the Board Chairperson for Masindi Teachers’ SACCO made the revelation during the 14th Annual General Meeting which was held last Saturday at Education Hall in Masindi town.

“These are members who have never renewed their subscription; they don’t save and they also don’t come for loans. Something needs to be done about this matter because out of 621 members, only 384 are active,” he said.

Mugaanzi contends that continuous mobilization for new members and outreach to dormant members account holders is necessary.

He also noted that the SACCO is facing a challenge of poor saving culture among members, most of whom are only interested in accessing loans to solve their problems. 

“Some of you are multiple borrowers. You find yourselves getting loans from different institutions which sometimes affect us,” the Board Chair said. 

According to the SACCO’s Management Report for January 2019 to December 2020 period, membership has grown from 576 in 2019 to 621 in 2020.

The report, which was presented by Gladys Tumusiime, the SACCO Manager, revealed an increase in share capital from Shs 39m in 2019 to Shs 47m in 2020. Savings also went up 16%, from Shs 73m in 2019 to Shs 85m in 2020, while the loan portfolio increased from Shs 325m in 2019 to Shs 369m in 2020.

External loans dropped significantly during the same period, going from Shs 108m in 2019 to Shs 61m in 2020.

Tumusiime also told the members that the SACCO had managed to pay back Shs 400m that it had borrowed from Walimu SACCO. 

“One of our challenges currently is that we have insufficient loanable funds for timely disbursement of the money applied for by the members,” she told the meeting.

Masindi Teachers’ SACCO was founded in 2005 by the teachers of Masindi. It was later opened up to the public in order to meet demand from people involved in other sectors of the economy.

It aims, among others, to improve members’ living standards by providing sustainable savings and credit services at competitive rates and minimise financial risks.

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