Three years down the road is a suitable timeline to test the feasibility of the NRM manifesto and the promise of middle income status by the year 2020.
Infrastructural development, industrialization, operation wealth creation amongst other presidential initiatives have stolen the headlines.
However, the phenomenon of SACCOs, women and youths groups are spearheading the drive to middle income status as further illustrated in this article.
A SACCO is an acronym for Savings and Credit Cooperative Organisations. It is owned,governed and managed by its members who have the same common bond.
They may be working for the same employer, belonging to the same church, labour union, social fraternity or living in the same community.
SACCOs as a type of cooperative have become a major form of business organisation. These are legal entities owned by members, benefiting members and controlled by many members thus public interest entities.
They are unique, democratic, member driven and self help organisations that are championing the drive to middle income status in the various ways.
In a SACCO, members agree to save their money together and offer loans to each other at reasonable rates of interest.
Because interest is charged on loans,to cover interest cost on savings and the cost of administration, these loans provide an avenue for raising household incomes for poverty eradication and sustainable wealth creation.
Organised groups are good avenues for the implementation of the Operation Wealth Creation program as envisaged by the President.
“It is very important to equip youths with skills since they’re the next generation and in order to promote commercial farming, machinery such as maize mills will be supplied at district levels”, President Museveni weigh in.
Government has been instrumental in funding most SACCOs countrywide and the ongoing regional presidential tour on wealth creation is testimony enough.
SACCO members are the owners and they decide how their money will be used for the benefit of each other. The money stays and works within the members. This encourages members to save as a way of building a resource base for credit.
SACCOs educate their members in financial matters by teaching prudent handling of money, how to keep track of finances and how to budget.
They also pay dividends on shares to their members once the SACCO is established and profitable. Members therefore take pride in owning their own SACCO.
SACCOs perform a critical and unique function as financial intermediaries. They mobilise significant volumes of personal savings and channel them into small loans for productive purposes such as boosting agriculture and commercial farming.
These loans are also provident such as paying for school fees and funerals.
SACCOs are also an avenue for youths and women groups hitherto marginalised and have now organised themselves and able to utilize opportunities from presidential initiatives.
SACCOs are championing economic growth and will sure drive the economy to the much desired middle income status.
