They were warned by the Commissioner General of Prisons Dr. Johnson Byabashaija, who was represented by the Commissioner of Prisons John Bosco Tumwebaze at the 15th Annual General Meeting of Uganda Prisons Savings and Credit Society Limited held on Friday at Luzira Prison in Kampala.
Prison officers have been put on the spot for abandoning loans offered by the prison SACCO in favour of bank loans a situation that poses a high financial risk for both parties.
Courtesy: Uganda Prisons
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Byabashaija said that he has been made aware of a trend among officers of leaving loans from their SACCO which are given at an interest of 13 percent, for bank loans which have interest rates of more than 20 percent.
The Chairperson of the Supervisory Committee of the SACCO Samuel Akena, said that there's a need to improve the welfare of cadres in low ranks through financial empowerment. He revealed that the rate of withdrawal of savings is high and if left unchecked it is likely to weaken the liquidity of the SACCO.
According to the report tabled at the meeting, the SACCO made Shs1.58 billion last year compared to Shs1.36 billion in 2021 indicating a 16 percent growth.
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The SACCO Treasurer, Jacob Kivumbi said that the SACCO currently has assets worth Shs9.3 billion, however, the withdrawal rate from members has reduced the savings from Shs1.3 billion to Shs1 billion.
Amos Turyashaba, the SACCO Board Chairperson, said that the loan portfolio increased from 7.27 billion Shillings to 8.51 billion shillings and they got a surplus of more than 778 million shillings.
The membership also grew from 11,267 to 11,886 members but their efforts continue to be undermined by low savings, limited capital, and the existence of multiple lending institutions.
The Prisons SACCO, unlike the Police SACCO (EXODUS SACCO), operates on voluntary participation and allows any amount of cash for savings.
