Cooperatives, SACCOs demand one law

Currently, the Ministry of Trade licenses them through the registrar, Bank of Uganda, and Uganda Microfinance Regulatory Authority.

This call was sounded by Ferdinand Tumuhaise, a lawyer working with Kampala Associated Advocates during a stakeholder meeting of co-operatives organised by Uganda Co-operative Alliance today.

He said there is no unified law that states clearly which ministry or agency should regulate cooperative unions and SACCOs, leaving them tossed from one place to another which he says is a waste of time.

According to him, the government through Parliament should come up with a good law that sets the criteria clearly on who has the mandate to regulate such organisations.

He added that the current law is disorganising and confusing as members of cooperative unions and SACCOs do not understand it, hence affecting their decision-making.

Tumuhaise cited a situation where one is registered by the registrar of cooperatives and SACCO and then sent to the Bank of Uganda for registration to be regulated yet they are supposed to be regulated by Uganda Microfinance Regulatory Authority, which brings a lot of confusion.

He noted that, if there was one harmonised law in place, issues like one approves and the other disapproves would be dealt with as there will be no time wastage in the process of registration and regulation.

The Kampala Associate Advocates Counsel also wants a board to be instituted at Uganda Cooperative Alliance consisting of all relevant stakeholders from Bank of Uganda, UMRA, and Ministry of Trade that will make collective decisions during board meetings.