The Speaker of Parliament, Rt. Hon. Jacob Marksons Oboth, has stepped in to defuse a long-running dispute between the Bank of Uganda (BoU) and the Uganda Co-operative Savings and Credit Union Limited (UCSCU). Oboth secured a phased path to compliance and directed the Ministry of Finance to initiate an amendment to the law governing Savings and Credit Cooperative Organisations (SACCOs). This breakthrough came after a tense two-hour meeting in Parliament’s South Committee Room, attended by the Central Bank, cooperative leaders, and the Ministries of Finance and Trade.
The dispute began when BoU Governor Michael Atingi-Ego gave large SACCOs until September 30, 2026, to submit licensing applications, warning that the deadline would be neither lifted nor extended. Under the directive, large SACCOs without a BoU licence by October 1 would be cut off from the commercial banking system, losing access to their deposits held in commercial banks and unable to transact through mobile money. Lt. Gen Sam Kavuma, the Board Chairman of Wazalaendo SACCO, warned that such a cut-off could trigger panic and runs on SACCOs.
Governor Atingi-Ego explained that the central bank’s mandate comes from the Microfinance Deposit-Taking Institutions Act, Cap. 58, and the Micro-Finance Deposit-Taking Institutions (Registered Societies) Regulations, 2023. He stated that BoU had fulfilled every commitment from a February 2026 stakeholders’ meeting, including extending the original deadline to September 2026, receiving a matrix of regulatory gaps from the cooperative movement, and carrying out stakeholder sensitization.
Cooperative leaders insisted they are not resisting oversight but objected to a system in which three institutions regulate the sector under different laws: the Ministry of Trade, the Ministry of Finance’s Microfinance Regulatory Department, and the Bank of Uganda. UCSCU Chief Executive Officer Sylvester Ndiroramukama stated that SACCOs want to be regulated under one law, one regulator, like other successful countries such as Kenya.
The meeting resolved that large SACCOs will pick up licensing application forms within seven days as a sign of good faith. SACCOs that make genuine efforts to submit applications by March 31, 2027, will be given consideration. The Speaker floated June 30, 2027, as a possible outer limit for the phased process, subject to BoU’s position. The Speaker directed the Minister of Finance to initiate an amendment bill to harmonise the legal framework for registered societies and create a SACCO-specific regime.
Governor Atingi-Ego cautioned that any extension must be matched by concrete action from the cooperators and that the central bank’s regulatory position remains in force. Speaker Oboth guided that a taskforce formed previously to work on counter-proposals to BOU be reinstated to follow on this roadmap. He emphasised that the cooperators must show willingness by picking the forms and returning them in time, as they will all be under BOU.
The SACCO leaders explained that under the Cooperative Societies Act, a decision to seek a BoU licence must be approved at an Annual General Meeting (AGM). For most SACCOs, AGMs fall around March, which made the September deadline unworkable for many of them. Col. Allan Kitanda, a UCSCU Board Member from Wazalendo SACCO, argued that the law had not anticipated the sector’s rapid growth.
Key points
- The Speaker of Parliament has brokered a truce between the Bank of Uganda and Uganda Co-operative Savings and Credit Union Limited over SACCOs' licensing.
- The truce includes a phased path to compliance and an amendment to the law governing SACCOs.
- The deadline for SACCOs to submit licensing applications has been extended to March 31, 2027, with a possible outer limit of June 30, 2027.
