The Luwero Resident District Commissioner, Mariam Nalubega Sseguya, has suspended the activities of Luwero Teachers Savings and Cooperative Society with immediate effect following complaints of alleged financial mismanagement and lack of transparency.
Luwero Teachers SACCO has operated for more than 30 years, but in recent years, members have raised concerns over alleged mismanagement, difficulties accessing their savings and loans, and what they describe as a lack of accountability by the SACCO leadership.
More than 1,000 teachers petitioned the Luwero District Chief Administrative Officer, demanding an immediate halt to monthly salary deductions and investigations into the management of the SACCO.
Michael Kakande, a member of Luwero Teachers SACCO, says between 50,000 and 100,000 shillings is deducted from each member’s salary every month. However, he says members have struggled for years to access loans or withdraw their accumulated savings.
Kakande further alleges that some members who managed to secure loans were required to pay bribes to SACCO managers before the money could be released. He also claims that teachers who put pressure on SACCO managers to release their savings have been threatened with transfers.
Samali Namukasa, another member, says she joined the SACCO in 1998 and, for many years, was satisfied with its performance before the situation changed in recent years. Namukasa says she has saved more than 20 million shillings but has been unable to withdraw even part of her savings or secure a loan from the SACCO.
She also claims that although she initially consented to a monthly deduction of 100,000 shillings, the SACCO later increased the amount to 130,000 shillings without her consent.
Other members accused the SACCO leadership of remaining unchanged for nearly 20 years and failing to convene Annual General Meetings where members could receive an account of their savings and the operations of the society.
On Wednesday, Luwero District Chief Administrative Officer Friday Kyomya and Resident District Commissioner Mariam Nalubega Sseguya invited teachers to the district headquarters to discuss the complaints after efforts by the Education Department to resolve the matter failed.
During the heated meeting, headteachers asked the RDC and CAO to investigate the SACCO leadership, whom they accused of mismanaging members’ savings and the society’s property.
Nalubega said that after hearing the complaints, she had resolved to suspend the SACCO’s activities with immediate effect, citing concerns over transparency. She also directed the Police to commence investigations into the SACCO’s activities to establish whether any offences were committed and, where appropriate, facilitate prosecution.
Kyomya said the teachers’ complaints were justifiable and that the district would write to the Ministry of Public Service requesting that the salary deductions be stopped, as demanded by the members. He also said no teacher should be intimidated or threatened with transfer for demanding access to their own funds.
Richard Mukasa, the chairperson of the SACCO Board of Governors, did not attend the meeting and was unavailable for comment on the allegations.
Meanwhile, last year, the Department of Microfinance Regulatory Authority under the Ministry of Finance summoned SACCO managers to explain their operations after receiving complaints from teachers. The managers, however, reportedly did not appear.
The department also reportedly found that the SACCO was lending money without a license from the Ministry of Finance as required by law. The latest suspension is expected to pave the way for investigations into the SACCO’s management, financial operations and members’ complaints-URN. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
