RUKUNGIRI- The Assistant Secretary General of Uganda Cooperative Alliance (UCA) Robert Asiimwe has urged Kebisoni SACCO delegates to become the vanguards of their organisation by ensuring that they play the roles they were elected to in order to ensure that the SACCO remains financially strong.
Asiimwe made the remarks on 8th March 2025 while speaking at the 22nd Annual General Meeting for Kebisoni SACCO Ltd which was attended by delegates from Zones that were created and delegates elected to represent the rest of the shareholders.
Kebisoni SACCO which was established in 2001 currently has a total of 9647 shareholders and is fully affiliated to Uganda Cooperative Alliance (UCA), Uganda Cooperative Savings Credit Union (UCSCU) and Uganda Cooperative Financial Services (UCCFS).
Asiimwe noted that the elected delegates are duty bound to ensure that they recruit more shareholders and even encourage the members especially those with few shares to procure more in order to keep the SACCO financially strong.
He also said that it was important for the Shareholders to agree to be represented by delegates at the Annual General Meeting because it saves time and resources which are vital for the development of the organisation.
Kebisoni SACCO is headed by a 10 Member Board of Directors chaired by Rev Fr Emmanuel Safari and during last financial year, 1,582 new members were recruited which was a 19.61% of the total shareholders from 8,065 in 2023 to the current 9,647.
While delivering his communication, Rev Fr Safari disclosed that Kebisoni SACCO closed 2024 with Ugx 4.98 billion compared to Ugx 3.73 billion they had in 2023, and they closed the year with a Share capital worth Ugx 2.71 billion compared to Ugx 2.25 billion in 2023 while the Loan portfolios has increased to 12.47 billion compared to Ugx 9.36 billion in the previous year.
He however noted that that the majority of the shareholders have between 5 and 10 shareholders which is detrimental to the growth of the SACCO and urged delegates to do more sensitisation to members to increase their shareholding status.
Rev Fr Safari however said that the Board of Directors in consultation with Colidel Consults Ltd was able to develop a 5 year Strategic plan to guide the Board, Management and Staff in issues of driving the the SACCO forward to achieve it’s strategic goals and objectives and they have also revised the the Credit and Lending manual where loan appraisal levels were introduced to reduce risks and turnaround time and the SACCO and have adopted more technology to facilitate the organization’s operation in partneship with Future Link Technologies Ltd.
As a result of new developments, the Board recommended the opening of a new branch in Rukungiri Municipality with an outreach at Rwerere Town Council and also expand Nyamunuka Branc premises to ease congestion because of increased number of shareholders at the Branch.
Rev Fr Safari however said that the SACCO is threatened with increased number of dormant accounts and asked members to become more active and use the SACCO accordingly as a Savngs and Credit Institution and also noted that some members borrowed money and stubbornly refused to pay as per agreed conditions which is hindering organization’s activities.
He also mentioned that that tge pre-AGM turn up was too low because it requires that a member must have 5 shares to be able to attend as it was passed in the 2024 AGM, but people have never increased their shares.
