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Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Colonel Freddy Joseph Onata, the Chief Executive Officer of the UPDF’s Savings and Credit Cooperative -Wazalendo, has expressed confidence to achieve their target of being a One trillion asset institution by next year.
He said said the SACCO boasts a membership of over 100,000, share capital of 240bn, savings of 445bn, loan portfolio of 737bn and a total asset base of 959bn.
Wazalendo’s leadership strategic plan is to hit one trillion shillings assets by 2025.
“Wazalendo SACCO should be a One trillion asset institution and I can guarantee that if everything goes well, we are going to hit that in 2024,” he told SACCO’s Annual General Meeting (AGM).
“The year ending 2023, we registered a surplus of 73.3bn and we are going to distribute 40% to the members. We have agreed to partially open up to allow us to allow other organisations to come and join the SACCO,” Col Onata said. This translates to an evrage of ugx300,000 to be credited to members’ accounts.
Speaking at the same AGM, former Inspector General of Police, Gen Kale Kayihura -one of the architects of Wazalendo- said Wazalendo was started to address soldiers’ welfare.
“The biggest challenge became the lack of resources was family welfare, before which we had no problem because we didn’t have families and pressures whether in the bush or the first years in government where we weren’t earning any salary, but gradually, pressures came,” Gen Kayihura said.
AT the AGM, the outgoing Deputy Chief of Defence Forces Lt Gen Peter Elwelu praised the late Gen Aronda Nyakayirima for bringing a new leadership perspective in the Uganda People’s Defence Forces.
Lt Gen Elwelu who until last Thursday was deputy to Gen Wilson Mbadi said Gen Aronda streamlined UPDF leadership and what is being celebrated today including the Army’s blossoming Wazalendo Saving and Credit Cooperation Organization were his efforts.
“I thank the late General Aronda because he brought in a new perspective to leadership in the UPDF,” Lt Gen Elwelu said. “It is because of him that everybody said yes, now I see we have a new leadership and cadreship which has embraced the original values of the NRA and now here we are, a great SACCO in the whole country and Africa because of General Aronda’s leadership.”
Lt Gen Elwelu was speaking at Wazalendo SACCO’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) where he represented his outgoing boss CDF Gen Wilson Mbadi. Lt Gen Elwelu is now presidential advisor on security matters while his former boss Gen Mbadi is state minister for trade and industry.
Gen Aronda was CDF for close to 10 years and was in May 2013 replaced with Gen Edward Katumba Wamala. Gen Aronda died in September 2015 aboard a plane on official duties from South Korea and remains one of the most respected CDFs UPDF has had.
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