The Deputy Governor of Bank of Uganda (BoU), Dr.Louis Kasekende urged Ugandans to consider turning Savings and Credit Cooperative Organisations (SACCO) into producer cooperatives and use pooled funds as capital investments in the commercial agro-based enterprises.
Dr Kasekende was speaking in Jinja where senior BoU officials were interacting with members of the public as part of the campaign to sensitise Ugandans about BoU activities such as its roles, decisions, policy actions, services and products.
He said SACCOs are often used as a form of safe custody or saving to spend on later festivities and sharing out the proceeds of any interest earnings.
“Such operational modalities often result in returns that are so small to undertake any meaningful investment by an individual member. Such a move coupled with proper record keeping can also facilitate easier access by members to government funds like the Agricultural credit facility (ACF),” he said.
He urge people to reflect on the unutilized potential of these groupings in fostering job creation and wealth for our community.
He explained to the audience the benefits the accrued from dealing with only regulated financial institutions, noting that they are best placed to ensure safety of people’s savings as the regulated institutions are required to act diligently in accordance with the set laws and regulations.
“They offer a recourse to the regulator for consumer protection in case of complaints or irregular activity, and in the event of being closed and liquidated, there is a final recourse to the deposit protection fund for depositors in these regulated financial institutions.”
“You should not be duped into dealing with unlicensed and unregulated financial institutions that are in many ways disguised schemes to defraud the community. Heed warnings or advice coming from agencies like Bank of Uganda regarding operations of certain investment schemes or institutions,” he added.
He urged them to take keen interest in physically inspecting the licenses of any institution that claims to be licensed by BoU or any other regulator.
