Teachers face arrest over Sacco money

The general manager of Walimu Saccos Union, Ms Carolyn Kiyai Atai, said they have sought the intervention of the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) to undertake a forensic audit of defaulting Saccos to establish the exact amount that has yet to be paid back as well as the culprits.

“If the audit pins anyone of you, will have to face the police, anti-corruption court or the Inspectorate of Government.  Why are you clinging to money which is not yours? We want that money recovered,” Ms Atai said.

Ms Atai made the remarks during training for the members of the union from different districts about the laws, rules and regulations governing the operations of the tier four microfinance institutions and money lenders under which Saccos fall in Kampala yesterday. The training was conducted by the Uganda Microfinance Regulatory Authority (UMRA).

“I have a bank statement for each defaulter and we shall name and shame them. There is a reason as to why we have questioned you and you know yourselves. Why haven’t we touched Ssembabule for example?” she added.

Ms Atai said the lack of a system to recover the funds has made it easy for some Saccos to default but said such issues would be addressed once the Saccos are licensed.

She was, however, tightlipped on the amount of money that the members had failed to pay and the number of defaulters.

“I’m not supposed to share those details. Get them from Police. Talk to Mr (Fred) Enanga (spokesperson of police),” she said.

However, Mr Tom Gwale, the chairperson of Entebbe Municipal Teachers Sacco, said he was unfairly arrested and imprisoned for defaulting.

“We got money from Walimu amounting to Shs490 million and we started paying. But from nowhere, they started complaining that we were not paying well. We had paid to a tune of Shs364 million. This is a revolving fund. We knew we were to pay back,” Mr Gwale said.

 “Instead of them calling us, they decided to take us to the courts of law. Some of us were taken to prison. I have no kind words for Walimu. They have messed up the Saccos. They have imprisoned teachers. Teachers are on the run. UMRA should first regulate Walimu before they can come to us,” he added.

Mr Gwale said he received a document from the Union which stated that he and his colleagues owe Walimu Shs174 million. He said when he inquired about the matter, he was told to go to the Walimu offices.

The UMRA director for supervision, Mr Nelson Mutatiina Kakye, advised all Saccos to secure licences to legalise their operations.

Mr Kakye said a license is a legal requirement and guarantees legal protection, ensures the safety of the funds, credibility of the Saccos and makes it easy for Saccos to access funds in form of grants and donations.

Mr Tibbs A. Orikiriza, the manager of microfinance institution at UMRA, said some of the Saccos licensing criteria include a minimum equity requirement of at least 10 percent of core capital to total assets, and voluntary savings and institutional capital that is not more than Shs1.5 billion and Shs500 million

Others are an institutional structure that is accessible, basic governance, at least one annual general meeting in the past two years, and at least two board meetings in the previous year.

Police react

When contacted on the matter, police spokesperson Fred Enanga said the cases from Walimu Saccos were investigated by the government department under CID Economic and Anti Corruption Crime Division but no arrest has been effected.

“May be the arrests were effected by the IGG (Inspector General of Government) but as police, we have not effected any but investigations are going on to gather enough evidence,” he said.

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