Following recent concerns regarding its operation and expectations, the Teachers Savings and Credit Cooperative Scheme commonly known as Umwalimu SACCO has come out to clarify its status.

In an interview with The New Times, the Executive Chairman of the teacher’s microfinance scheme said the claim that teachers are forbidden from opening current accounts within Umwalimu SACCO is not a condition forced upon teachers by the bank but a directive from the Central Bank.

During this month’s Presidential Press conference, concern was raised that teachers are not allowed to open current accounts in Umwalimu SACCO but only savings accounts, a condition which limits teachers to access their money at any time.

Murekeraho however expressed the Microfinance’s willingness to operate current accounts but have been blocked by the Central Bank.

"I guess you are aware that even small Microfinance institutions operate current accounts but I don’t know why we have been singled out. We have 13 branches in just one year and software which interconnects them, we fulfil all requirements but we are the only ones not allowed to operate current accounts” Murekeraho said.

He also noted that the issue is not as big as it had been portrayed before the president.

In an earlier Press Conference, the Central Bank Governor Francois Kanimba said that the concern raised to President Paul Kagame recently was surprising because the National Bank of Rwanda has never ordered Umwalimu SACCO to close down or stopped it from carrying out certain transactions.

"What the President was told came as a surprise. We have never told the scheme to close down but we gave it a number of conditions to fulfil such as setting up enough branches to reach out to all teachers countrywide before they could start operating current accounts, but not to close down,” Kanimba said.

He added that discussions to operate current accounts are also underway but this will only be approved when the bank has enough branches, which he said would happen soon.

Murekeraho said that by the end of this month, new branches will be opened in Kayonza, Ngororero and Nyanza by the end of August.

Murekeraho revealed that since September 2008, the bank has given out loans worth over Rwf 1.5Bn to over 10,000 teachers and intends to reach out to more in its second year of operation.

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