By HOMELAND BUSINESS DESK
President Museveni has said that cooperatives are key in building an inclusive economy which empowers the population to own economic activities that shape their lives.
He made the remarks in a speech read on his behalf by the minister of Trade Industry and Cooperatives, Francis Mwebesa to mark the 28th UN Day and 100 Years of International Day of Cooperatives at Kabwohe playground in Sheema.
He praised cooperative societies for their role in the social economic transformation of communities.
He said that the NRM has been committed to reviving the cooperative sector over the past three decades in recognition of their role in economic development.
Museveni stated that the government pledges to support all efforts aimed at creating a Cooperative Bank (Peoples’ Bank) to fill the existing agricultural financing gap, although he urged cooperators to avoid repeating past mistakes that pulled back cooperatives in the 1990’s.
The secretary general of Uganda Cooperatives Alliance (UCA) Ivan Asiimwe stated that the UCA is an umbrella or mother of all cooperatives in Uganda and was established in 1961.
Its objective, he said, is to have all unions and primary cooperatives have one voice by supporting each other further informing the gathering that Uganda has 11 million cooperators under 31,442 groups.
“We ask the government with all cooperators to put back a Cooperative Bank which used to help farmers get some income. We also ask the government to provide more schools for cooperatives education to enable cooperators to gain skills,” he requested.
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