By Stanley Nkhondoyachepa

NKHOTAKOTA-(MANA)- Ministry of Trade and Industry says it is working to review some laws governing the operation of the Savings and Credit Cooperatives (SACCOs) to align them with the country’s development plans.

The ministry’s Registrar of cooperatives Wiskes Nkombezi said this in Nkhotakota on Sunday during a Dwangwa SACCO annual general meeting held at Chitowe Stadium in the district.

He observed that some laws are old and could not serve the SACCOs well in the current operating environment.

“If you can look at the Cooperative Society Act, it was enacted in 1998 but there have been a lot of changes in the financial sector so we need to amend those laws to be in tandem with the current operating environment,” he said.

According to Nkombezi, the amendment aims at having clear procedures in increasing membership of the groups apart from aligning them with the country development agenda”.

He said currently, there is notable progress in the amendment drive and hoped that once completed, it will help in individual members’ economic self reliance as well as spur the country`s economic growth.
He hailed Dwangwa SACCO for the exceptional performance in management of its cooperative books and hoped the trend would continue.

Nkombezi appealed to SACCOs to adopt digital technology observing this is crucial for better service delivery and leads to efficiency gains.

Dwangwa SACCO outgoing Board Chairperson Phillip Mwanza said the SACCO had performed well in the year ended and had managed to acquire assets of up to K1 billion which is a bench mark for a performing SACCO.

One of the members of the SACCO Sozi Matoliro said through his membership, he has managed to save money and acquire assets.

During the meeting, it was announced that the Dwangwa SACCO had posted a surplus of MK67 million in 2021 as opposed to MK15 million surplus in 2020.