KAMPALA – Operators of public service vehicles (PSV) in Uganda will soon begin to establish Savings and Credit Cooperative Societies (SACCOs), having undergone a two-day capacity building training on the formation of SACCOs.
The trade ministry conducted the training held in Kampala where Joseph Lutalo, a senior training officer in the ministry, said cooperatives are easy to form, flexible and that they can be used to address matters that affect members
“New ideas can be generated, members can share concerns, offer support to one another, build on existing skills, create employment and empower others,” Lutalo said, adding that cooperatives grow due to the collective efforts of the many members.
Speaking at Mestil Hotel in Kampala, Lutalo said cooperatives provide an organisational framework that enables members to handle tasks that enhance production and productivity, collective marketing, value addition as well as job creation.
While officiating at the function, the state minister for transport, Fred Byamukama, said formation of SACCOs comes with many advantages such as business sustainability, adding that taxi operators, bus operators and boda-boda riders will easily form SACCOs since they already have associations.
Byamukama urged the public service vehicle operators to use the improved road network to take their services to all regions of Uganda.
Byamukama further said that through the cooperatives, PSV operators would be in position to monitor operations and discipline their respective crews.
“Through the SACCOs, PSV operators will be in position to get government financial help,” he said, adding that this is better than bank loans that come with high interest rates.
Transport ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Waiswa Bageya, said formation of SACCOs is a blessing to the transport industry while Winstone Katushabe, Commissioner for transport regulations and safety in the ministry, said formation of SACCOs will help tackle unfair competition, which he said, would result in reduced transport fares.
As the private players embark on creating SACCOs in the transport sector, Uganda Transport Cooperative Union (UTCU) has not recovered from its collapse that happened during the years when Uganda faced instabilities, with many of UTCU’s vehicles seized by the previous military regimes.
Formed in 1973, UTCU, had grown from 17 trucks to more than 500 in 1985, but by 2017, the once popular union had only three trucks.
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