Credit unions in Ghana to launch Deposit Guarantee Scheme
The Ghana Co-operative Credit Unions Association (CUA) Limited would launch Deposit Guarantee Scheme in October this year.
The scheme, the first in Africa, is a form of insurance to protect the deposits of members and refund to them in the event of the failure of a Credit Union (CU) to pay the deposits of members.
Mr Emmanuel Oduro Darko, General Manager of CUA, said this at the 2012 Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Brong-Ahafo Regional Chapter of CUA in Sunyani on Wednesday.
He said it would also give the public the assurance that saving with a CU was safe and expressed regret that the CU Legislative Instrument (LI) which was drafted in 2000 to ensure supervision by the Bank of Ghana (BoG) “is still in limbo”.
He said a draft law to the LI presented through the Attorney-General’s Department to the Bank of Ghana (BoG) had been reviewed several times by the BoG, Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning and Department of Co-operatives and other stakeholders.
Mr Darko said despite these reviews for the past 13 years, “This draft has not been passed into an Act of Parliament” and appealed to the BoG and MoFEP to ensure that the LI would be passed to give the CUs credibility and assist in safeguarding the image of CUs in Ghana.
Mr Oduro said the Brong-Ahafo Regional Chapter was leading in the operations of CUs in the country because it had strong, quality and well-managed CUs, a contributory factor to its speedy growth and expansion.
He urged the Board and Management of the Chapter as well as the mangers of local societies to work harder to maintain the pace and tempo of its operations that had resulted in the success story.
Mr Charles Asua-Yeboah, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Chapter, reported that it posted an incredible financial performance during the 2012 financial year because it had a surplus of GH¢21, 247.98.
That is a 513.78 percentage increment over the 2011 financial year performance that stood at GH¢3,461.80, making it the highest surplus the Chapter had attained in its history.
Mr Asua-Yeboah, the Chairman of the National Board of Directors of the Association, said the Chapter’s performance in all areas of its operation in 2012 was commendable, and cited an increase in membership from 55,463 in 2011 to 62,000 in 2012.
He said the institution of special fund by the Chapter had been a blessing because through that it had acquired a parcel of land to build an office complex at Abesim in the Sunyani Municipality.
Later a sod-cutting ceremony was held at the site for work to begin on the office complex estimated at about GH¢330,668.
Mr Asua-Yeboah told the meeting that at the 17th National Biennial Conference organised in May 2012, Brong-Ahafo Regional Chapter was adjudged the best among the 12 Chapters in the country.
He said out of 21 awards presented, it received 16, saying “This really justifies our might at the national level”.
Mr Emmanuel Coffie, Brong-Ahafo Regional Manager of the Chapter, urged managers of the primary societies to continue to discharge their duties efficiently and effectively.
He said that responsibility would be possible when “We commit ourselves to the training programmes organised both at the National and Chapter levels”.
Mr Coffie appealed to members to exhibit exemplary loyalty to their societies since the strength of every co-operative society depended on the pooling of resources of its members.
He asked members to prove that “We are sincere co-operators by fostering meaningful inter-co-operative co-operation which is one of the recognized principles of co-operation for our own growth and strength”.
Source: GNA