MPs on the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament ( PAC ) have asked officials at the Microfinance Support Centre to produce Emyooga lists. The MPs led by their chairperson Muwanga Kivumbi MP want the lists of all beneficiaries of the Emyooga funds made public.
This follows findings by the Auditor General that a worrying 70% of the loans given out haven’t been recovered. PAC wants to ascertain how much was loaned in the financial year 2022/2023 and correspond it to the money recovered.
“We need a list of all beneficiaries. This will help us to aggregate how much of the outstanding [balance] is principle and penalties” – Xavier Kyooma, Ibanda North MP.
MP Kyooma also added that the only way the Auditor General’s report can be proved is by splitting the outstanding balance between the principle and interest.
The committee was forced to postpone the meeting until Microfinance Support Centre officials reconcile these documents.
Additionally, Amuria District Women’s representative Susan Amero questioned the credibility of the information provided. She noted that there was confusing information about SACCOs. This is because some were registered to operate in more than one district.
She also expressed her disappointment in the team’s failure to disaggregate the data. According to Amero, they shouldn’t have provided them with cumulative data as they knew which financial year was in question.
“Why are you giving us all this information? It is quite confusing. ” – Susan Amero.
Amero wondered whether the team did this intentionally to divert PAC’s attention from core discrepancies.
What is the emyooga program?
The Emyooga program is an initiative by the Government of Uganda expected to promote economic empowerment. Launched in 2020, the emyooga program is expected to improve household incomes across the country.
At its launch, the Microfinance Support Centre was given the mandate to spearhead the emyooga program. Microfinance Support Centre reports to the Ministry of Finance, Planning, and Economic Development. Emyooga is a Luganda term for specialised skills or trades and the program emulates this by focusing on informal sector enterprises.
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