Uganda’s State Minister for Microfinance, Haruna Kasolo has urged Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) leaders to put political differences aside if the Emyooga program is to succeed.
Kasolo made the call on Wednesday at City Hall where he was meeting KCCA leaders to debrief them on the Emyooga program that he later launched in Kampala.
“Let’s forget our political differences. Parties come and go but Ugandans and her citizens remain,” Kasolo said as he urged leaders to unite in order to uplift the livelihoods of ordinary Ugandans.
Emyooga is a presidential initiative on wealth and job creation.
The programme was conceived to scale up direct support to communities through establishment of various specialized funds/Myooga-specific Apex SACCOs at constituency level but with operations/branches at parish level. This approach is consistent with the parish model adopted in the National Development Plan 3.
It targets Ugandans from 18 clusters including Boda boda riders, taxi drivers, restaurants, welders, market vendors, women entrepreneurs, youth leaders, people with disabilities, journalists, performing artists, veterans, fishermen, and elected leaders who form saccos and each gets shs30 million as seed capital.
At City Hall, Kasolo also appealed to leaders to develop a sens of ownership of the program saying, “I dont want to leave any leader out of it.”
Later in the day, a grand launch of the program was held in Nakawa in which he explained in detail how the program is set to operate.
“The program emphasizes the point of saving, it is supposed to persuade Ugandans to embrace the saving culture,” he said.
As part of the arrangement, shs30m has been earmarked for each SACCO as seed capital while SACCOs involving leaders will get shs50m.
850 SACCOs are set to be formed in Kampala alone as government seeks to end poverty by creating jobs and wealth.
Kasolo and the Microfinance Support Centre team have been traversing the country, explaining to Ugandans the program and its benefits.
Direct membership to the Constituency Apex SACCOs shall be by the respective parish groups/associations which, in turn, shall draw voluntary membership from individuals in the community engaged in a related economic activity (e.g. Welders, Tailors) or belonging to a specific special interest group (e.g. PWDs, Veterans), as applicable.
The Finance Ministry provided Ushs. 30 billion in the FY 2019/20 to MSC towards implementation of the EMYOOGA programme and Ushs. 210 billion has been provided for the current financial year. This Quarter, Ushs. 140 billion has already been disbursed to MSC for programme implementation.
