The report indicates that Centenary Bank disbursed 77.8 million while Post Bank disbursed 43 million shillings to the women beneficiaries by December 31, 2024. Centenary Bank and Post Bank are the only financial institutions serving the Karamoja sub-region with GROW Project funds.
The government has disbursed only 240 million Shillings of the 3.8 billion Shillings allocated to women in business under the Generating Growth Opportunities and Productivity for Women Enterprises (GROW) project to the Karamoja subregion.
The findings are contained in the Ministry of Gender, Labour, and
Social Development under the GROW Project Secretariat, which is supervising the implementation of the project in the country. The report indicates that Centenary
Bank disbursed 77.8 million while Post Bank disbursed 43 million shillings to
the women beneficiaries by December 31, 2024. Centenary Bank and Post Bank are
the only financial institutions serving the Karamoja sub-region with GROW
Project funds.
This means that the region received a total of 120.8 million
out of 3.801 billion shillings allocated to Karamoja.
Nansaba Odiira, the GROW
Project Communications Officer, says that the ministry has released only 10% of
the funds to the implementing financial institutions as of December 31, 2024.
She said that the ministry releases the money in batches to
allow the government to track the utilization of the funds given to the
beneficiaries.
However, information received in Kotido district indicates
that only 12 out of 120 women who applied for the funds were able to access the
GROW money. But the Kotido Principal Municipal Community Development Officer,
Lilly Lemukol, says she is not been able to access the details of the beneficiaries
from the banks.
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The GROW guidelines
limit information sharing to the district/Municipal/ City Focal Point Person,
the RDC, CAO, and LCV/Mayor. But the Kotido District Grow Project Coordinator,
David Moding, also expressed concerns over the limited information about the
beneficiaries of the GROW project in the district.
Ngakarimojong bite
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Jhanan Otim Olum, the Manager of Centenary Bank, Kotido Branch, when
contacted, said that information about the GROW Project beneficiaries is a
reserve of the Secretariat at the Ministry of Gender, Labor and Social Development.
Odiira, when asked about the information sharing, said that
all the banks implementing the GROW Project activities signed a consumer protection
law that limits them from sharing information unless express permission is
granted by the minister.
The GROW Project, launched in September 2024, is a Ugandan
government initiative funded by the World Bank. It aims to empower women
entrepreneurs by increasing access to entrepreneurial services and resources,
ultimately supporting their business growth and job creation.
However, the project is raising more questions among the
applicants in different parts of Karamoja.
Maria Nakiru, a resident of North
Division in Moroto Municipality, says that she was bounced by the bank for failing
to produce proof of marriage. The applicants are also wondering why they must
show 51 percent shares of ownership of registered companies in businesses.
Recently, the government lowered interest rates for women
in Karamoja, Busoga, and Bukedi sub-regions from 10.5 percent to 8.5 percent as
an affirmative action to enable more access to GROW funds.
