FORT PORTAL, August 12, 2024 – The Wazalendo Savings and Credit Cooperative Society [ WSACCO ] Limited has commissioned a new commercial building located on Balya Street in Fort Portal City to host its cash operating branch.
WSACCO is a Ministry of Defence [MOD] and Uganda People’s Defence Forces [UPDF] Cooperative Society that enables its members to come together and pool funds so that they can access loans to engage in productive activities for improving their welfare.
While commissioning the building days ago, the UPDF Mountain Division and Operation Shujaa Commander Maj. Gen. Richard Otto applauded the leadership of WSACCO for constructing the building, adding that it stands on a prime plot in the city.
Otto also commended the milestones WSACCO has registered since 2005, adding that the SACO owning a building in Fort Portal City is a great achievement.
“This is our own permanent home. We need more projects of this kind,” he said.
He said that the expansion of cash operations across the country has enabled its members to overcome the initial challenges that they faced while accessing services in commercial banks.
He urged SACCO members to ensure that they utilise the loans taken effectively. “We must therefore emphasise the importance of financial discipline among our troops,” said Otto.
In his remarks, WSACCO’s Chief Executive Officer, Col. Joseph Freddy Onata, appreciated the Board of Directors [BOD], saying that their guidance and teamwork have enabled management to implement and deliver real estate projects.
“We gave out our first loan in 2007, moved out of the barracks to our own headquarters in Kiwatule in 2015, established our first cash branch outside the barracks at Imperial Mall in Entebbe in 2021, and now we are commissioning our own commercial building built by us and on our own land,” said Onata.
Among the factors that Onata highlighted to explain WSACCO’s success was linking all the operations to the vision of the SACCO, thus self-sustainability.
The Vice Chairman of the BOD, Lt. Col. Allan Klitanda, who spoke on behalf of the Board Chairman, Lt Gen Sam Kavuma, thanked UPDF leadership for championing the Wazalendo cause. He highlighted some of the achievements that included, among others, saving members from expensive loans from loan sharks.
“We are now the biggest SACCO in the country. I call upon other professionals and leaders to form similar SACCOs to boost the economy of the country,” Kitanda said.
He called upon the businesspeople in Fort Portal City to rent space at the SACCO building, saying the security of their businesses is guaranteed.
The SACCO’s Director of Operations, who also doubles as Chairman of the Construction Committee, William Atalyeba, thanked the UPDF engineering team for delivering the building in time as tasked by leadership.
He said rental collections from new the building would supplement other incomes generated by the SACCO. “Since the branch was relocated from the barracks to the city centre, business has increased from Shs 2.6 billion to Shs 3.5bln per month in terms of loan disbursements,” he said.
The Fort Portal City Engineer, Jimmy Balyawa, thanked WSACCO for constructing the building, saying it has changed the face of Fort Portal City.
The building has a rentable space of 1,161.45 square meters and houses WSACCO’s Fort Portal cash operating branch.
Having started in 2005 with the strategic goal of improving the welfare of officers and soldiers of the UPDF and their families, WSACCO has since grown into one of the biggest SACCOs in Africa with a membership of over 100,000 and assets of Shs 1.1 trillion, share capital of Shs 278bln and total deposits of Shs 476bln.
The commissioning of the building was attended by the company secretary, Col. Dan Tizihwayo, WSACCO BoD member Western Region, Capt. Dathan Bunanukye, and Acting Head of Finance, Maj. Apollo Ahimbisibwe, among other senior managers of the SACCO.
https://thecooperator.news/wsacco-to-hit-shs-1trn-in-assets-by-2025-top-official-says/
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