President Museveni has directed the Ministry of Finance to issue a statutory instrument to operationalize Section 90 of the tier from Microfinance Institutions and Money Lender Act 2016 within two weeks on interest paid by borrowers to moneylenders in the country.
The President made the remarks on Thursday, September 28, 2023, during the National Resistant Movement (NRM) Caucus meeting at State House Entebbe.
The President said that moneylenders have caused sadness to young people and families to the extent of committing suicide due to the high and unregulated interest rates.
“These moneylenders who are causing suicide to our young people—who allows them to operate? Why should someone charge 20% interest on a loan per month? This must stop,” the president said.
This comes after several complaints about incidents where people lost possessions and some killed themselves. For instance, 22-year-old fourth-year Makerere University student Ashiraf Nsubuga killed himself on September 29, 2019, because he couldn’t pay his loan.
The president also urged the caucus members to fight corruption if they want to be appreciated by the populace.
“On the problem of corruption, I urge the members not to keep quiet. We don’t need it and it’s not necessary; we have the capacity to crush all the corrupt people and we shall do it, all we need is the facts,” the president added.
“I’m going to crush these corrupt people. When you hear bloodshed don’t get surprised. Because you are going to kill your country. So, I want you to support me. If I bring with the Attorney General an amendment saying that if anybody extorts money in the name of the president, should go to jail for some time. We are going to attack a few examples, and they will become examples of others,” the president said.
The meeting was also attended by the Prime Minister, Rt. Hon. Robinah Nabbanja, Ministers, NRM Secretariat Secretary General, Hon. Richard Todwong, and some Central Executive Committee members.
