Minister Kasolo orders arrest of Museveni model sacco managers in Bushenyi

State Minister for Microfinance, Haruna Kasolo has directed for the arrest of managers for Ruharo Savings and Credit Cooperative Society-SACCO in Ishaka-Bushenyi municipality.

Kasolo made the directed on Thursday while launching the Emyooga presidential initiative on job and wealth creation.

While speaking at the launch, the Bushenyi RDC Jolly Tibemanya asked the Minister for capital to revive the struggling sacco which is on the verge of collapse.

However, in response, the fuming minister said injecting capital without solving the sacco problems first would be suicidal.

“The manager, chairman and treasurer should be arrested with immediate effect. If you cant(arrest them),direct me we go together and arrest them,”Kasolo told the RDC.

The minister then asked the Bushenyi District Commercial Officer, David Byamukama to explain circumstances under which the sacco reached a stage of struggling under his close watch.

In response, Byamukama said that whereas there were fraud issues, the biggest problem was members and managers’ failure to pay back the money borrowed in form of loans.

“When members realized that managers had borrowed and not paid back, they(members) also defaulted,”Byamukama said.

Kasolo warns

The minister however warned that government can’t allow members under cooperatives lose their money saved in saccos .

“During this era, we cant allow anyone play with money for saccos. We have the Tier 4 Microfinance Institutions and Money Lenders Act 2016 which regulates activities of saccos but also stipulates punishments for those who mismanage saccos. The RDC should arrest the managers before I can help them revive it,”Kasolo said.

He however noted that he would send his team to carry out an independent audit to find out the exact problems that the sacco is facing.

“It is not only this sacco but we can’t allow any sacco fail. The biggest problem has been embezzlement of members’ savings and has in the end discouraged many to form saccos. The managers must answer.”

The Ruharo Heifer project SACCO is one of the model projects that were started by President Museveni in Bushenyi District after identifying Ruharo parish then as his model village 2003.

While launching the sacco, Museveni injected shs140 million as start-up capital to avail banking services to the largely agricultural community of Ruharo but later in 2013 injected another shs120 million.

In 2017, the then manager for the sacco, Auleliano Byarugaba also a resident of Ruharo ward was arrested after a forensic audit was made and found shs 170m had been missing but he was later released.

However, the sacco is on the verge of its collapse and according to a list of over 80 members who have defaulted on paying bank the loans includes Jaffar Bassajjabalaba, the Bushenyi district LC5 chairperson.

When interviewed for a comment on the allegations, Basajjabalaba denied saying he had paid back his loan.

“I had a shs3 million loan but I ended up paying shs7 million. The only problem with the sacco is that there is a lot of politics. They wanted to witch-hunt some of us but I am going to be at the forefront to revive it,”he LC5 chairman said.