By Leilah Bbaale
Members of Parliament from Hoima and Kikuube districts have raised concerns over the procedures for accessing Emyooga funds.
The Emyooga, a presidential initiative on wealth and job creation, was rolled out in October 2020 to support among others, market vendors, welders, taxi drivers, boda-boda riders, women and restaurant owners.
The MPs argue that the program has instead impoverished the beneficiaries because of the stringent and bureaucratic guidelines.
According to the SACCO members, the Microfinance Support Center has continued to come up with different guidelines.
The guidelines require every Emyooga SACCO to set up an office, employ loan officers, erect signposts as a prerequisite to saving money on their accounts among others. However, the beneficiaries say the process is expensive and lengthy.
Asinansi Nyakato, the Hoima City Woman MP says that stringent guidelines in accessing these funds are bureaucratic. She says that some banks have started deducting interest even before the beneficiaries receive the money.
The Kikuube district Woman MP, Florence Natumanya says that the bureaucracy and stringent limitations must be relaxed to enable people to access the money.
She said that the procedures of getting the money should be changed if the government intends to alleviate poverty.
