Namayingo veteran sacco leaders face arrest over mismanagement of Emyooga funds

The leaders of the   Namayingo South Constituency veterans Emyooga sacco have been accused of mismanagement of funds meant for the sacco.

During one of the monitoring meetings held by the State Minister for Microfinance, Haruna Kasolo, the Namayingo RDC, Suleiman Barasa Ogajo said there are a number of issues with the sacco that need to be rectified.

"Here in Namayingo South, the problem is with  the sacco for veterans. When you look at the leadership, only the chairman is a veteran. There are people who claim to be veterans, yet they are not according to their physical appearance and age.  I also discovered is that they ( leadership) solicited money from  people, promising to give them loans, and they didn't give out the loans. I have a lot of complaints in my office. Some say they were asked to give up to a million to get Emyooga money,"Ogajo reported to the minister.

"They  say they invested money in fish farming, and that fish will mature in September. We have  given them up to September to have refunded the money. If September passes, and we don't get our shs30 million, we will take action against them. I visited their fish cages, and I doubt whether they are worth 30 million. however, I decided to give them benefit of doubt. I believe these people embezzled this money.

Speaking in response, Minister Kasolo said the sacco leaders will have to refund the money or else they risk arrest and prosecution in courts of law.

"They will have to  bring back that money. Let the fish mature, and I believe they are there. If I find out that the business is not existent, I will send them the DPC to handle them," Kasolo said.

He however encouraged members of the public to participate in Emyooga program, not only to get money but rather through savings.

Kasolo told the meeting that the biggest weapon to poverty alleviation is mindset change.

"If you don't change mindset, you will remain poor. Have financial discipline. Money can only be yours if you keep it. Spend only when you must. To spend money, make sure, you have run out of all options. Where you can avoid spending, don't spend. It will help you to become rich," he said.

"I want to encourage you to embrace saving culture. Get used to saving. Whoever is in Emyooga, I encourage you to save. Start to save everyday. If you are here, and you don't have a daily income generating business, you are in trouble. Make sure you have a daily income generating business. You must earn money everyday, so that you save everyday."

Performance

Officials told the minister that Namayingo district received shs1.68 billion as total seed capital for the three constituencies of Namayingo South, Bukooli South and Bukooli Islands.

The entire district has  a total of 54 Emyooga saccos formed and these have saved shs610 million whereas loans worth shs1.7 billion have been disbursed and only shs250 million out of this has been  recovered.