Junior officers are the biggest beneficiaries of the Exodus SACCO, says police

Last week, a report to the Committee on Defence and Internal Affairs of Parliament indicated that junior police officers accused their high-ranking counterparts of benefiting from the SACCO even when they constituted the least number of savers.

Upon this, legislators attacked the Police’s Exodus SACCO for operating illegally with forced mandatory salary and retirement deductions.

According to Wilson Omoding Otunna, the MPs were led on a wild goose chase over these allegations of mandatory saving.

He noted that there are forms on which police officers who wish to join the SACCO sign and consent to on the amount they want to be saving per month, where some save as low as shs 30,000.

“It is therefore not mandatory saving but rather each person saves what they can afford. In fact, in some cases, members have asked and have been allowed to reduce the amount that is deducted in the form of savings,” Omoding said.

In his address, Senior Commissioner of Police Omoding further said it is not true that all police officers are part of the Exodus SACCO, adding that it cannot be true that there are mandatory deductions of salaries as savings.

“Whereas there are senior officers as members of the SACCO, the majority of the members are junior officers and these are the biggest beneficiaries in terms of loans taken from the SACCO.”

He said they have written to the registrar of cooperatives regarding the issues raised in the report, providing supporting documentation.

“Exodus SACCO operates in accordance with the cooperative principle of autonomy and independence. The SACCO is an autonomous, self-help organization controlled by its members, with no interference from Police Management. It operates under the patronage of the Uganda Police Force to improve officers’ welfare,” Omoding said.

He explained that the SACCO engages its members directly through various channels such as the board, management, delegates, Community Liaison Officers (CLOs), and unit commanders, providing updates on the SACCO developments, including shares, savings, loan products, system upgrades, and addressing member concerns.

He said the SACCO remains committed to transparency, accountability, and member autonomy.

The Parliamentary Committee on Defence and Internal Affairs last week said the SACCO is subjecting police officers to mandatory saving by forcefully deducting salaries as savings.

With this, parliament said they were violating the Cooperatives Societies Act by denying them the option of voluntary saving.