Eight leaders of Emyooga Savings and Credit Cooperative Organisations (SACCOs) in Sironko District are in police cells over failure to repay loans they obtained under the government programme. The arrests were made Tuesday as the State House Emyooga national team began an operation to recover unpaid loans in the Bugisu region.
The operation, which started in Sironko and Bulambuli districts, followed concerns over poor loan recovery, with the national team visiting individual SACCOs to establish their operations and identify reasons behind the low repayment rates. On Monday, the State House Emyooga team met Resident District Commissioners, Chief Administrative Officers, commercial officers and LCV chairpersons from Bugisu at Mbale City Chambers to discuss strategies for recovering the money.
The national Emyooga Coordinator, Rita Namuwenge, later held a closed-door meeting with Sironko security officials and Resident District Commissioner Ephraim Denis Balwaniregha ahead of the operation. Namuwenge told the RDC that the team would visit Emyooga SACCOs across Sironko and Bulambuli to establish whether they were still operating and why beneficiaries were failing to repay their loans.
She said the team had received information that some SACCO leaders had obtained large amounts of money but had failed to repay it, denying other members an opportunity to benefit from the revolving funds. The first SACCO visited was Budadiri West Market Vendors Emyooga Association in Sironko Town Council, where officials found that SACCO leaders had obtained more than Shs20 million.
John Tulinawe, the Head of Operations at the Emyooga Coordination and Monitoring Unit at State House, demanded that the leaders repay the money so that other members could access the funds. Swaibu Welikhe, the SACCO vice chairperson, and other executive members agreed to immediately pay Shs1.5 million while seeking the remainder, an arrangement that allowed them to avoid arrest.
The team then moved to Budadiri West Constituency Mechanics Emyooga SACCO, also in Sironko Town Council, where officials found that leaders had obtained more than Shs10 million and had not repaid it for about five years. Tulinawe said Fred Wanyala, the SACCO chairperson, had taken Shs5 million, while Fred Zebolo, the Secretary of the Loans Committee, had obtained Shs1.5 million.
The officials were ordered to repay the money immediately but failed to do so, prompting Tulinawe to order their arrest. Further arrests were made at Budadiri East Constituency Welder Savings and Credit Operatives Society. Those arrested included SACCO Chairperson Abasa Wanyala, Secretary Jackson Wanyala and Treasurer Mulanga Twakha, who Tulinawe said had each obtained Shs5 million and had not repaid the money for five years.
The suspects were being held at Sironko Central Police Station as investigations continued by the time of publishing this story. The State House Emyooga team said the recovery operation will continue across Bugisu and other parts of the country to recover funds that remain unpaid and return them to the revolving scheme for other beneficiaries to access-URN. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
