The Rwanda Cooperatives Agency (RCA) has released a list exposing 150 cooperatives countrywide with a track record of mismanagement.
The RCA deputy director General Gilbert Habyarimana said that mismanaged cooperatives won’t face immediate closure but will be trained on latest reforms.
The common mistakes done by cooperative leaders are contrary to the latest laws which were approved on October last year.
Habyarimana explains that much as the cooperatives had a short time to
adapt to the new regulations, some of their leaders are corrupt and should be expelled by members.
Issues seen in cooperatives performing poorly were presented in 4 categories, the first one shows cooperatives which are still using old laws and most of which were formed as early as 1960.
The second issue includes cooperatives managed by family members. “The law provides that a cooperative shouldn’t be managed by over 50% of people who are related,” he advised.
Thirdly, are cooperatives that are abandoned by their founders while members thinking their leaders are active.
Lastly is lack of commitment from members a fact that tempts the few active to take advantage of remaining cooperative resources.
“Those who don’t have enough members totaling to a minimum of 10 people can transform to a company and we will assist them during the transition process,” he advised.
Gaston Rurangwa the chairman of a musician association wants to transform into a company since most of his members lost interest and went abroad meaning he lacks the required number of people to run a cooperative.
“I don’t have a choice we’re only three that’s why I’m convinced to form a company which will assist musicians especially in events management,” he said.
The program will be concluded at the end of this month, it was started officially in Musanze district yesterday and today it launched at Kicukiro district.
He noted that RCA wants to strengthen cooperatives by seeking trainings of members aimed at improving their competence. “We often link them to Rwanda Bureau of Standards (RBS) to be trained on how to ensure quality in their produces,” he remarked.
RCA also links the cooperatives with markets as a way of improving their financial capacity, “in October there will be an expo in London. We intend to facilitate local associations to take part,” he remarked.
Leave a Reply