Sheema teachers form SACCO to boost their financial independence

SHEEMA, Nov, 28, 2025 — Teachers in Sheema district have launched a Savings and Credit Cooperative Organisation [SACCO] in an effort to strengthen their financial independence and reduce reliance on high-interest local moneylenders. The initiative was announced during a district teachers’ conference held recently at Bugongi School of Midwifery, where educators were urged to take a proactive role in improving their economic well-being.

The cooperative, named the Sheema Teachers’ SACCO, is intended to promote savings culture, financial literacy and economic resilience among teachers, a move leaders say is necessary for teachers to improve their livelihoods amid limited salaries and rising living costs.

Zubendi Mwijukye, one of the mobilisers behind the initiative, said the SACCO aims to equip teachers with financial management skills while creating a secure mechanism for savings and affordable credit.

“We have decided to pool resources to form a SACCO that will empower teachers and support mindset change,” Mwijukye said. “This will help us build resilience, serve citizens better and reduce reliance on costly moneylenders. The goal is to enable teachers to build wealth from within.”

Mwijukye said the SACCO offers an alternative to informal saving boxes and local lending schemes known as Kafuna, which teachers accuse of charging exorbitant interest rates that erode their income. He described the new cooperative as a “safe, constitutional mechanism” for accumulating capital to access loans for school fees, business ventures and household improvement.

Jeremiah Twesigye, chairperson of Sheema South Teachers’ SACCO, said the cooperative plans to raise at least Shs 5 billion as its initial capital base, though members have already begun contributing through small monthly savings. He argued that a strong pool of funds would allow teachers to undertake short-, medium- and long-term development projects.

“As teachers, we spend most of our time in class and have limited opportunity to earn from side activities,” Twesigye said. “By joining efforts, we can mobilize capital, access funds, multiply them and reinvest. Once government support comes in, the impact will be quickly visible.”

District Education Officer Sempa Muzafaru welcomed the initiative, describing teachers as “frontline change agents” whose financial stability is crucial to the nation’s wider development agenda. He encouraged continuous engagement between teachers, district authorities and the central government to ensure sustained support for the profession.

Political leaders in attendance also endorsed the SACCO, saying it aligns with the National Resistance Movement [NRM] manifesto, which emphasises wealth creation, salary enhancement and support for professional development.

NRM flag bearer for Sheema South Member of Parliament [MP], Prof. Ephraim Kamuntu, said saving is a key driver of investment and long-term economic transformation. He dismissed the long-standing narrative that teachers are inherently poor, arguing that poverty is “an attitude that can be changed” through intentional financial practices such as cooperative saving.

“There is nobody that God created poor,” Kamuntu said. “Teachers must be at the forefront of the crusade to get out of poverty. They do not need large sums of money to begin — only mechanisms that allow small deposits to be safely secured and gradually increased.”

He pledged to support the SACCO if elected to Parliament, saying institutionalized savings structures are critical for building financial capacity among public servants.

“Saving is the beginning of accumulation and investment,” Kamuntu added. “We want constitutional arrangements that help teachers save because saving is the foundation of fighting poverty.”

Adrine Katusiime Mwebesa, NRM flag bearer for Woman MP Sheema district, also praised the teachers’ efforts. She said educators have repeatedly raised concerns about low salaries and economic hardship, and she vowed to ensure those concerns reach the relevant authorities.

“I am happy that teachers have organized themselves to form a SACCO,” Katusiime said. “We are who we are because of teachers, and many professionals, engineers, pilots, doctors, would not exist without their work. I will push for better salaries and for capitalisation of teachers’ SACCOs to help them overcome poverty.”

She thanked the government for existing economic empowerment programmes and urged continued investment in educators, whom she described as central to national development.

As the Sheema Teachers’ SACCO begins its operations, leaders say the cooperative represents a shift toward financial independence and collective responsibility. Teachers are calling for ongoing government engagement to support their welfare as they strengthen their role in social and economic transformation.

The SACCO leadership expects registration to be completed in the coming weeks, after which membership enrolment and savings mobilisation will intensify across schools in Sheema district.

https://thecooperator.news/sheema-sacco-innovates-to-mitigate-climate-change/

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