WSACCO BRANCH MANAGERS CHALLENGED TO ENSURE SUSTAINABILITY AND RELEVANCE OF THE SACCO TO MEMBERS

WSACCO BRANCH MANAGERS CHALLENGED TO ENSURE  SUSTAINABILITY AND RELEVANCE OF THE SACCO TO  MEMBERS

13th January 2023

Wazalendo Savings and Credit Cooperative Society Branch Managers have been challenged to ensure  that WSACCO’ remains  sustainable and relevant to the members needs. 

The remarks were made by the Chief Executive Officer of WSACCO Col Freddy Joseph Onata while addressing the Managers of the 19 branches at the SACCO Headquarters in Kiwatule Kampala.

The CEO thanked God for the great performance registered by WSACCO in the year 2022 which he attributed to individual and collective effort of the branches amidst the pandemic and other economic challenges during the year.

The CEO asked the Managers to  focus on delivering the strategic priorities outlined in the  strategic plan 2022 – 2026. He noted however that the strategic goals can only be achieved by each manager  understanding the priorities, explaining them to those under their charge and  aligning  actions of everyone to  WSACCO’s vision and mission.

The CEO encouraged  Managers at all levels to be Managers and leaders who are flexible to learn and capable of showing direction to  those under their supervision. ” Your cardinal role is to teach,  mentor, coach and develop talent under your charge  so that they become better people and future leaders. For me,  while here I pledge to make my contribution through mentoring you and I expect that effort to trickle down” He said.

Col onata noted that qualifications and academic papers pave way for a staff to join WSACCO but the leadership is interested in how the staff use the knowledge evidenced by their academic qualifications to generate results.

He concluded by asking managers to have confidence , self belief, capacity to learn and  avoid emphasizing self importance If they are to be better Managers.

The Director of Finance and Administration Lt Col Yusuf Buha Magero encouraged Managers to keep their discipline standards high by avoiding the  “superman or superwoman’ mentality.

He warned the Managers against illegal money lending commonly known  as ‘Baroda’ which he said is against the objective of improving members’ welfare by exposing members to exploitation through high interests on loans.

” You must note that  Wazalendo SACCO is what it is because it’s built on three strong pillars of solidarity of soldiers,  ideology and professionalism.

No action that goes against these  pillars shall be tolerated at any time” the Director emphasized.

Lt Col Buha asked Managers to be exemplary to the staff under them and to know that they will be answerable for any illegal actions taking place in their area of operations.

He asked them to give total respect to soldiers when they walk into the branches

for the services,  understand  their problems and be in position to find immediate solutions.

The DFA also called for team work and  accountability for purposes of timely decision making and handling challenges at hand.

The Director of Operations wazalendo Mr Atalyeba William called upon the Managers to come up with innovations in  year 2023 in order to solve the challenges that were faced in the  year 2022. He advised Managers to get out of routine work and come up with good ideas that make a difference.

Mr Atalyeba highlighted key deliverables for the  operations directorate the year 2023 that included; member satisfaction, Member growth, Savings Mobilization, lending outside salary, developing and refining of savings and credit products.

The Head of  ICT Maj Arthur Kwezi gave updates on decentralizing  Waza mobile registration and self registration and  off-site data capture which he called upon  branches, to prioritize in order to create convenience.

The Head Risk and Compliance Rtd Maj Wilson Mutahi encouraged staff to study and understand the policy manuals in place so that they are guided on how to conduct themselves in line with WSACCO’s code of conduct.

The performance for the year ended 31 December 2022 was highlighted by the Head Operations Maj Julius Niragire and Head of Finance Maj Julius Katanaka. According to results shared, Loan portfolio stood at 623Bn

Cumulative loans reached 2Trillions while Total Assets were 774Bn. The

Surplus for the year was 60.04Bn .

On the same day , Wazalendo SACCO Staff Welfare Association’s second  Annual General Meeting was held to update members on the progress of the fund.

The Chairperson of the Association Lt Col Akasius Mpabaisi appreciated all the staff for the continued commitment to  contribute towards the advancement of the Association.

The chairperson on behalf of the Committee condoled with members who lost their dear ones in the year 2022  and thanked God for those who were admitted and defeated illnesses.

He noted that the Association’s membership had grown to 228.  He informed the meeting that during the year 2022, a total of 22 staff were supported financially worth UGX 50,000,000 (Fifty Million shillings) in death condolences, party contribution , medical bills clearance and members who exited the SACCO.

The Staff Association’s fund is a contribution made by staff internally for self  support among members.