NEBBI, June 28, 2024 - A section of Emyooga SACCO leaders in Nebbi Municipality recently shunned a meeting organised by the Office of the Resident District Commissioner [RDC], for fear of being arrested over the mismanagement of Emyooga funds.
The purpose of the meeting was to assess the progress of Emyooga Programme whose beneficiaries received the funds from government in 2021.
According to the reports, about 40 percent of Emyooga SACCO leaders in Nebbi Municipality are on the run for mismanaging the funds that were supposed to be used to boost the businesses of enterprise groups.
The Assistant Resident District Commissioner Nebbi, Stephen Olama Clay told this reporter that the meeting was not meant to arrest Emyooga defaulters but to harmonise and address some of the challenges that are being faced by the leaders of the SACCOs. In Uganda, the RDC is head of security in a district.
“We are aware that Emyooga is doing badly because some of the executive members connive amongst themselves to withdraw money without the consent of other group members,” said Olama.
He noted that many beneficiaries of the funds misunderstood the Emyooga Programme by linking it to politics, and thinking that the funds received under the programme were free money from government, and could therefore be spent anyhow.
Emmanuel Owormungu, Acting Chairperson of Restaurant Owners’ SACCO operating in Nebbi town said, the SACCO got Shs 30 million seed capital but most members who got the loans have disappeared for fear of being arrested.
“There’s nothing in our accounts to run even our office since members have stopped saving. All SACCO members are defaulters who don’t want to be seen in town because they fear being arrested,” said Owormungu.
Brain Ogenmungu, Chairperson of Performing Artists SACCO said the former Chairperson connived with the Secretary to forge the signature of the treasure and withdrew all the money from the SACCO, which money has never been recovered even though the duo were arrested, and released by police.
According to Nebbi Municipality Commercial Officer, Felix Wakwayo, so far Shs 680 million seed capital has been disbursed to 18 Emyooga SACCOs in the Municipality since 2021 but, the recovery of the money has remained a bigger challenge because most of the SACCO offices have closed, making it hard to trace their leaders.
He said there is another Shs 20mln which is supposed to be disbursed to the best-performing SACCOs but most SACCOs have not applied for this money because of poor performance.
“There’s a challenge in the management of SACCOs because some SACCOs don't have records of the loan disbursements, recoveries, and even the records of the SACCO members who are active,” said.
Emyooga is a presidential Initiative on wealth and job creation launched on August 19, 2019. The programme targets 18 categories of specialized Ugandans including boda boda riders, taxi drivers, restaurant operators, welders, market vendors, women entrepreneurs, youth leaders, people with disabilities [PWDs], journalists, performing artists, carpenters, salon operators, tailors, mechanics, produce dealers, veterans, fishermen, and elected leaders.
The programme runs on the principle of saving, borrowing, and returning the received funds so that other members are able to utilise the funds.
https://thecooperator.news/corruption-failing-emyooga-in-kween-district-sacco-leaders-cry-out/
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