By Hookman Darlington
President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, represented by the Minister of Trade, Industry, and Cooperatives [MTIC] Francis Mwebesa, has officially launched the much-anticipated National Cooperative Savings and Credit Society Ltd, a precursor of the National Cooperative Bank, which becomes the cooperators owned Bank.
The high-profile launch event was held yesterday during the National Cooperatives conference 2025 held at UMA grounds Lugogo, which was attended by over 2,000 delegates, including district cooperative officers [DCOs] leaders of various Coop bodies and SACCOs, among others, under the theme, ‘Driving inclusive and sustainable livelihoods through cooperatives for a better world’
The president, who congratulated and appreciated the efforts of the UCA board, ministries, departments, and agencies of government [MDAs] and all stakeholders, highlighted that the cooperators must work as a team to ensure that they safeguard the interest of their new Bank.
The state minister for Cooperatives Fredrick Ngobi Gume and the board of the Uganda cooperative Alliance [UCA] collectively appreciated all the efforts of everyone for making the two-decade long drought dream come into fruition.
The UCA general secretary, CPA Ivan Asiimwe, pointed out that the Cooperators in Uganda could soon have access to cheap and appropriate financing after the government this formal inauguration of the society, which is a precursor to the revival of the defunct Cooperative Bank, whose assets were taken over by the Bank of Uganda [Bou] in May 1999.
This follows a recent Cabinet meeting where the cooperative sector lender’s revival was given a green light. The 14-member committee appointed and launched in Kampala by the Minister of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives, Francis Mwebesa, was told the government was determined to have the bank back.
The committee is made up of representatives from seven institutions, such as Walimu Cooperative Union and Wazalendo SACCO. Other members of the committee were picked from the Parliamentary SACCO, Uganda Central Cooperative Savings and Credit Union Limited. According to the state minister for Cooperatives, Frederick Gume Ngobi, the committee would be operational until the farmers’ bank is operationalized.
“We have about three months to study what led to the bank’s downfall and how we can circumvent it,” he said, urging the committee to fast-track the development of a roadmap for consultations and to submit regular reports to stakeholders. Minister Mwebesa said the revival of once once-farmers’ bank will ease access to affordable and appropriate credit for cooperatives in all sectors of the economy.
The Cooperative Bank was closed on 19 May 1999, by the late Charles Kikonyogo, the governor of the Bank of Uganda at that time. The reasons given for its closure were “inadequate capitalization” and “insolvency to the tune of Shs 4.8 billion, as of December 31, 1998.
