In December 2021, the Serere County Member of Parliament through Patrick Okabe Foundation launched a village approach in over 100 villages in Serere County. The move was aimed at bringing villages in Serere into Village Savings groups.
Village Savings Groups are self-managed groups of minimum 100 individual members who meet weekly to save their money and access small loans at subsidized rate.
For one year now, Village saving groups in Omagara Parish have saved over Uganda Shillings one hundred million (100,000,000/=). The groups in Omagara are continuing to serve as an effective vehicle for economic justice and long-term resilience.
Since 2021, the initiative has not only increased resilience, but also decreased challenges around income, food, and healthcare.
Regina Iriaku, a member of Omangara Village savings group says, the emergence of VSLA has shown that when power is returned to even the most vulnerable women, they are able to improve their situation.
“Once a year the interest earned is divided among the association members, based on the amount each person has contributed,” said Iriaku while speaking to our reporter.
According to Iriaku, Omagara village group members are now self-sustaining and economically empowered.
She affirms that before they started their group, the available groups were only self-help groups, with barely enough funds, no security and records were not well kept, furthermore unlike now.
“So far, I can tell you that joining these groups is an exciting concept that does help. Groups are making a financial impact on the lives of these people in a very sustainable way,” says Abol Julius Secretary Agirigiroi Village savings group in Omagara Parish.
Kokas Achibu the chairperson of Otebe Village also in Omagara Parish said, the group has changed peoples’ perception of saving.
“Before this groups came, members never saved but now each member understands the importance and necessity of saving. They have experienced how saving positively impacts their families and future. Consequently, the group plans to continue saving and investing in the coming years,” said Achibu.
On his Part, Mp Okabe expressed gratitude towards various community members of Serere County Village groups for embracing the project noting that his dream of improving household income has come true.
“I want to request members of these groups under Patrick Okabe foundation to remain committed and save for their families. When I was starting these groups some people thought I was the owner but now the reality is there. Money has been saved and people are happy to share within themselves. I am now a happy leader because my voters barely over burden me on issues of school fees and other bills or necessities,” Okabe said.
He also called on other community members to join village savings in order to chase away poverty in the region.
Serere District Police Commander Brighton Ahibisamukama, commended Okabe Foundation for supporting the community to get out of poverty but called on communities to own the program.
He also asked the beneficiaries to use the money to buy other income generating activities including; cows, pigs, chicken and others instead of using to marry other women.
“If you marry a new wife with all the money you have saved, you would have done nothing. Let’s use the same money to pay fees next year. Let’s not spend all that money during Christmas,” he appealed.
Saving associations most popular source of borrowing
Village Savings and Loan Associations are the largest source of borrowing, according to data from Bank of Uganda.
The data contained in the Bank of Uganda Financial Capability Survey, indicates that 47.7 percent of borrowing Ugandans draw their loans from Village Savings and Loan Associations, which are self-managed savings and credit groups that do not receive external funding. They are mostly popular in rural areas and low income urban areas.
The report also indicates that Village Savings and Loan Associations, followed by Saving Credit and Cooperative Organizations (Saccos), make up 21.8 percent of loan uptake.
The survey was conducted among 3,338 households countrywide.