Head of Africa SACCO Umbrella Body Hails UPDF Savings Scheme

The Tanzanian Electricity Supply Company (TANESCO) SACCOS Chairperson Board of Directors Madam Somoe Nguhwe who is also Chairperson of the African Confederation of Co-operative Savings and Credit Associations (ACCOSCA) has commended the Wazalendo SACCO for the tremendous work it has done in transforming the lives of the forces in terms of welfare.

Somoe Nguhwe made these remarks while on a benchmarking visit to WSACCO together with a delegation of six members of TANESCO SACCOS, one of Tanzania’s biggest SACCOs. This was held at WSACCO headquarters in Kiwatule, Kampala.

Nguhwe appreciated Wazalendo leadership for accepting to host them to enable them learn from one another and share experiences.

She pledged to maintain the working relationship between the two SACCOs so that they can work together towards overcoming the challenges that affect them in general.

The Chief Executive Officer of WSACCO Col Joseph Freddy Onata appreciated the team for choosing Wazalendo as one of the SACCOs for their benchmarking visit in Uganda.

While making a presentation to the delegation, Onata said that Wazalendo SACCO was established on 22 September 2005 to solve welfare problems that the forces face through individual member monthly contributions and enabling members to access credit at affordable and reasonable interest rates.

“Improving welfare through increasing household income and wealth creation are the sure ways of improving members’ welfare and ultimately contributing to economic transformation,” Col Onata stressed.

He encouraged the TANESCO team to always focus on the vision and mission for which their SACCO was established if they are to achieve the purpose of their SACCO’s formation.

He also noted that if the SACCOs are to be sustainable, they must focus on; membership growth, service inclusivity, quality, value creation, member profiling, and analysis in terms of gender, age, and borrowing capacity as well as incorporating environmental concerns in their strategic plans.

According to Col Onata, the success registered by WSACCO over the last 17-year journey is attributable to corporate governance, investment in technology, training, continuous member mobilization and hiring of the right people with the right attitude and professionalism.

He noted that coordination between the BOD, SUPCO management and other stakeholders is the foundation of success.

The CEO TANESCO Hilary Andrea thanked Wazalendo Leadership for the patriotic job done in improving members' welfare, especially for those who put their lives on the frontline while proving security.

Andrea noted that TANESCO is a National SACCO for the National Electricity Company based in Tanzania with a membership of more than 6000 and was established in 1968. He added that their coming to Uganda was visiting Ugandan SACCOs to learn and share experiences.

“We have got a number of lessons to take home that will help us to successfully run our SACCO. I congratulate Wazalendo SACCO for providing a welfare platform to the patriots, the members of the UPDF,” he stressed.

The meeting was attended by WSACCO top management and a representative from UCSCU Mr. Ibrahim Kirwana.