WAZALENDO SACCO AN ACHIEVEMENT OF UPDF

WAZALENDO SACCO AN ACHIEVEMENT OF UPDF
WSACCO is an institutional SACCO for Ministry of Defence and Veteran Affairs (MODVA) and Uganda Peoples’ Defence Forces (UPDF). WSACCO draws its membership from UPDF personnel, civilian employees under MODVA WSACCO employees as well as their spouses and children. The numbers have since increased over the last 15 years, from the 30 at inception to the current Eighty thousand one hundred ninety-eight (80,198) as at 31st December 2020.
The SACCO was registered and licensed by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives under the provisions of section 6(2) of the Cooperative Societies’ Act, Cap 122 of the laws of Uganda with a registration number 7419 on 22nd September 2005, The WSACCO was initially registered with upon thirty (30) pioneer members. The membership has since grown to 80,000 over the last 15 years making WSACCO the biggest SACCO in the country. WSACCO” s Vision is; “To be a strong and self-sustaining SACCO that drives the development of its members while its Mission is; “To mobilize funds in order to provide affordable financial services that effectively improve members’ welfare”.
Wazalendo currently has 19 branches across the country. These include; Jinja, Mbale, Moroto, Kotido, Kampala, Bombo, Kakiri, Entebbe, Singo, Kaweweta, Gulu, Achol-pii, Mbarara, Masaka, Muhooti, Arua, Masindi, Nakasongola and Mubende plus the 04 liaison offices as Mburamizi, Kabamba Cantonment, Moyo and Mogadishu.
Our savings products that include; Savings Account, Retirement, School fees, fixed deposit, Minor (TOTO), Business Savings, Shares and Salary Accounts offer members fair interest rates and attractive terms to encourage a saving culture amongst our members.

We offer various loan products at affordable interest rates to benefit our members such as; Waza Quick loan, School fees, Nyumba (Housing), Business (Biashara), Agriculture (Kilimo), Special loan and Asset financing loans.
Wazalendo SACCO is one of the achievements of the UPDF which we celebrate as UPDF commemorates the 40th anniversary of the liberation struggle that ended the reign of terror and ushered in peace, security and stability that the country enjoys today.
WSACCO has not only played a big role in transforming the lives of soldiers and their families but also contributed to the socio-economic development of the country through various ways as indicated below for both the members and the community.
Wazalendo SACCO has improved the welfare of the soldiers, by enabling them together to save and create a fund from which they can borrow at low interest rate. The loans borrowed have enabled members start up side income generating projects, boosting their small business, paying school fees to their children, advancing in education themselves, land purchase, construction of both residential and commercial structures, farming among others.
The SACCO has enhanced financial literacy among the soldiers through annual mobilization trainings conducted by the Board of |directors (BOD) and management. The members now have better understanding of the importance of saving, expenditure control, budgeting, business skills, farming and selection of enterprise.
Wazalendo has continued to pay reasonable interest ranging from 4 – & % on saving and to charge favorable interest ranging between 12 – 13% on loans. WSACCO also has enabled members address the emergency issues through loan refinancing and loan swaps (Tujeyunge fund). We continue working hard to ensure that our members are protected from being exploited by the money lenders by developing in-house tailor made loan pay off mechanisms. A Business Account has also been introduced to enable members to save from other sources other than salary. By extension, the business savings account is intended to encourage members to engage in the businesses that will enable them to earn an extra coin.

WSACCO has provided employment to members of the community where our members invest their borrowed funds. As a SACCO, Wazalendo employs 172 staffs of which 64 are civilians including children of soldiers who work together with the soldiers in the running of the SACCO operations. Our employees pay income taxes such as PAYE thereby contributing to national development.
Through Corporate Social Responsibility WSACCO has reached the community as a gesture of good relationship with the community we operate in by giving out medical support to hospitals, supporting sports, schools, operational materials to other SACCOs in different parts of the country. We purchased medical equipment for SFC BATA Hospital in Entebbe, bought sports equipment for UPDF Football club. We also Re- roofing a classroom for Lacor Primary School and renovating a community Hall building at Pajule Catholic Parish Convent, contributions (Assorted items) to the children’s ward in Mulago National Referral Hospital, contribution to Tarehe Sita week Celebrations, contribution for CDF Children party, Purchase of 50seaters tent for Military Police Training School, contribution to Child of soldier network dinner to mention but a few all these cost millions of monies.

On the 07th January 2020 WSACCO joined the rest of the UPDF during Tarehe sita activities for a one-week engagement with other 18 SACCOs such as Masaka Union cooperative, Masaka elders SACCO, Lyantonde Veterans SACCO, MAMIDECOT, Lwengo development SACCO, Sembabule SACCO, Lukaya Road Tall Market Vendors Association (LUTOMA), Kasagama SACCO to mention but a few which were located in the 06 districts of greater Masaka including; Masaka, Kalungu, Bukomansimbi, Lwengo, Lyantonde, and Sembabule districts. During this visitation, WSACCO offered free financial literacy training and other gifts to the SACCOs. The activities were held as part of the UPDF’s Civil Military Cooperation activities being carried out in the area and also implementing the cooperative principle no 7 which is ‘’cooperation among cooperators’’. We also donated UGX 10M towards the fight against Covid-19 following the countrywide lockdown.
Our 15 years’ tremendous performance is indicated on the table below
2005 -When WSACCO started 2007-When issuing loans to members started At 10 years 2015 At 15 years , by 31st Dec 2020
Membership 1,311 35,960 66,908 80,198
Savings Deposits 11.8M 4.6Bn 60.5Bn 180,513,937,722Bn
Share Capital 12.2M 0.29Bn 79.8Bn 213,000,502,748Bn
Total Assets 13.1M 5.2Bn 195Bn 499,778,622,359Bn
Loans and Advances – 1.1Bn 147Bn 388,455,383,569Bn
Surplus – 0.13B 17Bn 45,577,542,763Bn

The above performance has been hinged on good corporate governance, accountability and compliance to the Cooperative Societies Act and By-laws. Valuing member services and good member management has enabled us to ensure that services provided are in line with needs.
We continue to believe in making a real difference in the lives of our members lives by empowering the minds of the job-creators, leaders, business owners and broader society. Our commitment to this is manifested at all levels of the organization and is further reflected in our core values.
WSACCO has invested in technology in order to ensure quality and efficient service delivery. These include among others; Mobile banking, ATM services, over the counter services (OTC), internal mail, customer data protection and cyber security. Wazalendo sees the urgent member need for more flexible services, driven by the principle of bringing services nearer to the members hence members can access WSACCO services without physically going to branches which improved on concentration of soldiers on their tight duties.
Like any other organizations we have encountered challenges in our operations. These include:
Poor savings culture, Borrowing for wrong purposes, Members’ nature of work limits their accessibility to the SACCO services and this renders it hard for them to utilize their funds effectively, the resolved legal framework surrounding the registration and licensing of SACCOs under Tier 4 Microfinance & Money Lenders Act 2016; between Ministry of Trade Co-operatives, Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development (Uganda Microfinance Regulatory Authority-UMRA) and Bank of Uganda. This has left WSACCO in unclear state of the ACT’s conduct.
In the conclusion, WSACCO has been an achievement of the mighty UPDF and the community at large, because it has supplemented on the earnings of members through interest earned on savings and dividends paid on shares. Our officers are men have greatly improved their welfare using the services and products offered by WSASCCO. We continue to innovate and develop better services that address the current and future needs of our members.

Ms. Charity Nayebare Namanya
PRO WSACCO
“SAVE FOR DEVELOPMENT’’