Ghanaians urged to cultivate savings habit

THE Martyrs of Uganda Co-operative Credit Union (MUCCU) of the Martyrs of Uganda Catholic Church has held its second annual general meeting with a call on Ghanaians to cultivate the habit of saving.
The Chairman of the MUCCU, Mr John E. Moffat, who made the call at the weekend, said credit unions provided the avenue for businesses and individuals to generate additional income for future investments.
Presenting a report on the operation of the union, Mr Moffat said the shareholding of members grew from GH¢ 5,480.00 in 2007 to GH¢ 8,582.00 in 2008, while members’ savings also grew from GH¢ 13,150.00 in 2007 to GH¢ 25,061.00 in 2008.
During the first eight months of the union’s operations, 130 new members joined the union with total assets of GH¢ 9,600.00.
However, by the end of the year under review, its assets stood at of GH¢ 55,315.00 with a membership of about 300.
Mr Moffat said the union had disbursed loans to the tune of GH¢44,300 to over 30 members and commended members for their good repayment culture, which he said, must be maintained to sustain the financial base of the union.
He was, however, not happy that members were not responding to invitation to meetings which had made it difficult for the MUCCU to invite the micro finance team from the union’s head office to help them to access loans easily.
In an effort to increase the membership base of the union, he said, an educational committee had been set up to find solutions to the low patronage of the union in the parish.
For his part, the Greater Accra Regional Manager of CUA, Mr Andrew Amponsah, reminded members that the credit union concept started from the Catholic Church and was, therefore, glad that it was gaining popularity in the church.
He said credit unions offered better loan facilities to members than other financial institutions including the banks, insurance companies and non-governmental organisations in the country.
Mr Amponsah said the world financial crisis offered a better opportunity for credit unions all over the country to recruit more members into their unions by selling the numerous products they had to offer to non-members.
He challenged the leadership of the MUCCU to first seek the welfare of their members before using their savings for other purposes.
A certificate of registration was presented to the MUCCU to make the union a legal entity.