Kyambongo University VC lauds Butuuro SACCO on transforming communities.

By Chris Mugasha

The Kyambogo University Vice Chancellor (VC) has blamed the elites for the slow/low development progress in some of the communities where they (elites) hail from.

According to Prof. Eli Katunguka if the elites cared to leave offices and dedicate some time and some resources to the villages/communities where they come from, some of the communities/villages would be far ahead interms of development.

Katunguka said the purpose of one getting education is to use the knowledge acquired and cause some change in a society where he/she comes from. “You (elites), people should see a difference in a community where you come from,” he said.

Katunguka was on Monday addressing delegates of Butuuro Savings and Credit Co-operative Society Ltd during their 16^th Annual General Meeting (AGM) at College View guest house, Nyakabirizi in Bushenyi/Ishaka Municipality. According to the General Manager Peter Tumuhimbise, the SACCO has a membership of over 16000 shareholders with four branches. For the year 2023, the SACCO has posted a profit of over Sh1billion up from a profit of Sh800million which was recorded in 2022.

He applauded the initiators and leaders of Butuuro SACCO stressing that, “you have not remained in the tower of education offices but you have come to empower the society.”

Caption: The Kyambogo University VC Prof Eli Katunguka with leaders of Butuuro SACCO during their 16th Annual general meeting at College View guest house in Bushenyi Municipality.

“I am really excited for the growth and development you have caused in the entire Greater Bushenyi region and beyond. There is no loss in transforming the societies,” Katunguka commended.

He said people especially in rural areas need to be helped for them to be able to live a decent life and connect them to other social and economic opportunities.

“If someone can come to this institution (Butuuro SACCO), borrow money and educates his/her child, that’s a biggest contribution on liberating the society,” Katunguka noted.

“Thank you for being part of the development. No one is going to cause such development in communities and not even government can handle it alone but you as people through Butuuro SACCO,” Katunguka noted.

Commending the Board and other stakeholders, the VC stressed, “that trust and confidence that members have in you must be sustained.”

The Butuuro SACCO Board chairman Benson Barigye said the institution has enabled many people to access funds for their children’s schools fees, business growth, jobs among other opportunities.

“Providing jobs to people is a very big Plus because there are many people who are looking for job opportunities but they cannot find them,” Katunguka said.

The Registrar of Co-operative Societies Robert Waiswa saluted Butuuro SACCO and other institutions for supporting government policies. He urged the SACCOs to support the government’s on-going Parish Development Model (PDM) program saying, “It’s an affirmative action by government and let us strengthen it.”

According to Waiswa, government is trying to harmonize the issue of having three regulators regulating SACCOs which he said, “it is causing a bit of conflicts in the sector.” He commended Butuuro for thinking strategically towards becoming a Microfinance Deposit taking Institution (MDI.)

Butuuro’s Patron Pison Mugizi explained that what has triggered and sustained Butuuro’s growth is having different structures which include; Founders, Promoters and the entire shareholders. “We had seen what caused the collapse of some SACCOs around and that is why we came up with a unique concept of having structures/groupings,” Mugizi said. End.