Who we are
Ruhiira Millennium SACCO ltd Shortened as RMS evolved from a group of women organized under a local women’s association called Ruhiira Twimukye Women’s Association (RUTWA) that had membership of 120. The Millennium Villages Project mobilized and facilitated it to be registered as a Cooperative under the Cooperative Societies Act in May 2007 with a purpose of providing members with affordable financial services especially savings, Credit with affordable interest rate, Micro Insurance and Money transfers.
Our Core Objectives
To offer savings facilities to members at competitive interests rates
To provide quality and affordable loans to its members based on members’ level of savings and repayment capacity to facilitate their economic growth
To provide education and training to its members both in operations of SACCO and efficient and effective utilization of loan extended to them
To ensure protection and safety of members funds by setting up a strong supervision network and strong financial discipline and guidelines
To support community groups mainly small holder farmer groups by linking their produces to potential markets
To enhance a culture of savings its members to ensure they are mindful of their Business
Support from MVP
Capacity Building
- Facilitated smooth transition of leadership.
- Trained the board/committee members in governance.
- Helped in setting up governance structures and formation of sub committees like vetting committee, loans Committee, Finance committee, public Relation Committee, Human Resource Committee and inducted them.
- Facilitated the committee in exposure visits to develop SACCOS to enable bench marking.
- Helped the committee in developing policies and compliance to government laws.
Management
- Provided management with Regular technical assistance.
- Facilitated the management in exposure visiting to develop SACCOS to enable bench marking.
- Helped in recruitment of technical management staff like the manager, credit officer and internal Auditor.
- Helped to enhance the MIS, integrating it with the performance monitoring tool.
- Took part in mobilising members most especially during AGMs.
Financial Support
- Safe
- Seed capital of 43 million
- Rent for one year
- Motorcycle for recovery
- Salary for employees for one year
- Contributed 20 million on roofing the SACCO building (Currently the head office)
Our Impact to the Community
Easy and convenient access to services. Extended services to hard to reach areas by the way of opening up branches that usually start as collection centres. E.g. people were spending a lot of money in processing loans from commercial banks like transport of 40,000 to and from Mbarara.
We pay dividends to our members every year.
We give Patronage bonuses to our members every year.
Employment to the children of our members/ individual Members.
Affordable services e.g. interest rate, Money lenders / Loan sharks were exploiting people here. Through business loans given to Our members, they have progressed in operating businesses hence increasing their incomes.
Empowering the marginalised people. Like Youth, Disabled members, Albinos, Refugees and women. Through Bakyara Tweyombekye Loan products, ladies were not accessing loans because of not having securities and yet they were active in other areas like savings etc. we are now giving them unsecured loans whereby they access loans through groups and members guarantee themselves.
Improved financial literacy through trainings. E.g. people know the benefits of savings, some had never entered in the bank but these days the whole community knows SACCO services, benefits of having many shares and how to use loans.
Improved standards of living in form of modern life styles. For those who knew Ruhiira can testify, there were very many grass thatched houses (But through home improvement loan product, we gave our members iron sheets and the community is now white and we are now thinking of changing to red and green) E.g. people didn’t have radios, didn’t have TVs, mobile phones etc.
Our members have Accessed trainings through development partners’ e.g. UCA, MVP UCSCU, UCCFs and aBi.
Developed leadership skills e.g. most of our SACCO leaders have graduated to good political positions.
The SACCO has provided platforms for members to share their experiences and interact socially during AGM.
Corporate social responsibility. We usually donate funds to community developments like churches, construction of schools, community hospitals, contribution to construction of bridges, providing relief food to the people affected by natural calamities.