Karonga residents reaping from village savings

Director of planning and development for Karonga District Council Emmanuel Bulukutu says the Community Savings and Investment Promotions (Comsip) has changed the lives of more people in the districts by adding value to some of their products and sale at a higher price.

Bulukutu said this in Karonga recently when officials from Comsip, Office of the President and Cabinet (OPC) and journalists visited the district to appreciate the impact the village savings initiatives have on the people in the district.

“There are many Comsip groups in this district which started very small, but are now steadily growing. Most individuals kept some money after participating in the EU public works programme and have built houses, bought cars and have various livestock after joining Comsip groups,” he said.

Bulukutu said there are three cooperatives at Mlale, Uliwa and Kaporo where members are now well-to-do.

“For example, members of the Mlale cooperative are making wine, juices and mats and many members have now built houses and some have their children in private secondary schools.

“What happens is that each member contributes to the group and buys shares and at the end of the year, they share dividends. If one contributes more, he/she gets a lot of money and we are encouraging people to join the groups,” said Bulukutu.

Bulukutu, however, said the groups are failing to get proper expert advice in some aspects due to lack of enough extension workers.

“We have a few extension workers and the cooperatives are also failing to buy equipment which could help them produce a lot of products in a short period of time. We will be very happy if government can come in and help these groups buy the machines,” he said.

Director of public affairs in OPC Isaac Cheke Ziba said with Comsip, lives of people are changing for the better.

He said government will work hard to ensure that many individuals join the Comsip groups.

“What we have noted is that when people have formed groups, they are able to make huge changes in their lives. As government, we will make sure we help in any way possible for people to move out of poverty through Comsip groups,” said Ziba.

Apart from the cooparatives at Mlale, Uliwa and Kaporo, another group in the district where members are very proactive is Tuyepampene.