Wazalendo SACCO Gets New Board of Directors

New members have been elected to the the Board of Directors of Wazalendo Savings and Credit Cooperative Society (WSACCO), also referred to as Wazalendo Sacco, during the SACCO’s 16th Annual General Meeting (AGM) held at the Uganda Military Engineering College (UMEC) in Lugazi, Buikwe District.

The AGM was held under the theme: “Sustainability through Member Economic Empowerment”.

The SACCO retained Maj Gen Sam Kavuma as the board's chairman and he will be deputised by Lt Col Allan Kitanda, with Lt Col Benon Kato as treasurer.

Maj Peter Tuhairwe will represent the Northern region on the board, while Capt Norah Ongodia will represent the Eastern Region, Capt Isaac Bisaalu (Central Region), Capt  Dathan Bunanukye (Western Region), S/Sgt Peter Osuko (West Nile Region), and Mariam Kagoro (Gender).

The Supervisory Committee (SUPCO) will be chaired by Brig Simon Ocan, who will be deputised by Col Justus Rukundo and Maj Alexander Asiimwe is the secretary.

The SACCO also revealed its status as of 2021, showing that membership is now over 91,000, savings deposits stand at Shs243.3 billion, share capital (Shs219.8bn), total assets (Shs630.7bn), loan portfolio (484.4bn), surplus/ profit grew from 43bBn in 2020 to 54.9bn in 2021.

The Chief of Defence Forces Gen Wilson Mbasu Mbadi emphasized that the focus of WSACCO should not be about being the first in the country but being impactful to the individual member.

“There are two things you must focus on as Wazalendo and these are; providing of ‘affordable’ financial services and ‘Improving members welfare. I am confident that the affordable credit services that have been put in place, loans have been given to members to a tune of 1.6Tn but the biggest question is, has the welfare of the soldiers been positively impacted on?” the CDF asked.

Gen Kavuma said that the year 2021 provided evidence that the WSACCO model is able to withstand economic shocks and even thrive in any challenging economic environment.

“This is mainly because our operations are member-centric and focused on growth through innovation while maintaining sight on making positive impact to our members, community and the environment,” noted Gen Kavuma.

He informed the AGM that in the five-year strategic plan 2022 – 2026, WSACCO plans to continue expanding geographically from five cash branches to at least 12 branches spread across the country.

“We plan to leverage our partnerships to enhance our digital banking and financial solutions across our diversified member base in order to continue serving our membership conveniently."

The Chief Executive Officer of WSACCO Col Joseph Freddy Onata said that the strength of WSACCO is in its ability to fund its operations internally.

He outlined some of achievements for the year 2021 that included acquisition of land in Mbarara and Gulu Cities, opening of three cash branches in Mubende, Entebbe and Kampala. Kampala and Entebbe units are the first to be established outside the barracks.

Waza Mobile was also launched to enable WSACCO members to transact using their phones.

Col Onata also informed the AGM that during the year Shs1.23bn was paid to 197 families of the deceased members who successfully lodged their claims.

According to the CEO, the key deliverables of 2022 include developing strategies for retaining the membership of retiring UPDF personnel, studying the possibility of partially opening the common bond, engaging Post Bank on digital channels especially agency banking, the human resource, construction of one regional office, operationalizing the business arm to enable WSACCO to undertake businesses which the  SACCOs are restricted from engaging in by law, engaging UPDF leadership on channeling all the UPDF salaries through Wazalendo.