Kikuube district authorities told to pay back Shs 1.12 billion of Emyooga funds or face arrest

In Kikuube district, there were 826 Emyooga groups created out of 36 SACCOs. 18 of the SACCOs are from Buhaguzi East Constituency, while the rest are from Buhaguzi West Constituency and these shared shs 1. 12 billion from the Emyooga funds.

Kikuube District Senior Commercial Officer Fatuma Businge says that the SACCO members who took the money to boost their businesses have not paid it back within the stipulated grace period.

According to Businge, Emyooga is a revolving fund and failure by one group to pay back has a negative effect on other members in the SACCO.

Accordingly, the Kikuube Resident District Commissioner Amlan Tumusiime has given the groups which borrowed the money strictly one week to refund the money or face arrest. According to Tumusiime, some of the group members after receiving the Emyooga have simply disappeared into thin air while other members used the money to let the good times roll by holding drinking parties and marrying second wives.

To avoid such defaulting and misuse of Emyooga funds, The Minister of State Microfinance and Small Enterprises, Haruna Kasolo Kyeyune, has said Ugandans must treat the Emyooga program as if it belongs to them if it is to succeed and reap benefits for them.

“People must know this program (Emyooga) belongs to them. There must be 100% sense of ownership. This is not a government but rather a people’s program. Once we hand the money to them, they are the very people to withdraw it, sit and determine who will get a loan and how to recover the money. In simple terms it is their program,” Kasolo said.

Kasolo noted that the public was treating this program as a government gambit to secure popular support yet it was for the members of the public to own and use as a jumping off point into order dive into efforts to alleviate poverty in the district.

He conceded that the program is still fresh out of the womb of government efforts to combat poverty and so there shall be challenges in the form of growing pains, but through monitoring the government shall make sure these challenges are surmounted and progress is thereby achieved.

“We still have challenges but I am optimistic the challenges will be soon fixed. I have sat with leaders in the district and are determined to change this,” he said.

Emyooga is a word derived from a local Ugandan dialect (Runyankole) to refer to specialized skills enterprises/groups.

It was launched by President Museveni in August 2019 as part of the government’s efforts to transform 68% of Ugandans in subsistence production to commercial production, as well as creating collective credit schemes intended to promote access to financial services by association members.

The Presidential Initiative has largely benefited market vendors, welders, taxi drivers, carpenters, boda boda riders (commercial motorcyclists), women, performing artists and restaurant owners who come together in form of savings and credit co-operative societies.