Mudi Sacco declares K13m dividend

Members of Mudi Savings and Credit Cooperative (Sacco) Limited on Saturday endorsed the K13 million dividend proposed by the Sacco’s board of directors during their annual general meeting (AGM) held in Blantyre.

This was the first time in over three years that Mudi Sacco has declared a dividend after going through turbulent times.

In 2013, Mudi Sacco made a surplus of K6.5 million but did not pay any dividend while in 2014 the surplus income was K20 million, according to board chairperson Duncan Mlanjira and auditors Johnson & Wilson.

Said Mlanjira: “From the K20 million surplus [profit], 25 percent or K5 million will be reinvested in the business as provided in the Cooperatives Act and K2 million is for the management to have an opening balance. This means the dividend to be declared and shared is K13 million.”

In their presentation, the auditors also said trends from 2011 show that Mudi Sacco is on the right track as, among others, evidenced by a reduction in loan delinquency from 45 percent in 2011 to two percent in 2014.

The Sacco’s operating income has also risen from K31 million in 2011 to K92 million in 2014.

However, Mudi Sacco, which also has branches in Zomba, Kasinthula in Chikwawa and Kanengo in Lilongwe, saw its membership declining from over 4 000 to 3 900 during the year under review due to redundancies and retrenchments in some of its member companies, according to Mlanjira.

During the AGM, Mudi Sacco honoured top savers in various categories with prizes. They included treasurer Martha Zilambalala (highest fixed deposit saving), Sophie Kasasi of AON (second highest fixed deposit saving), Maureen Masamba of Times Group (the most non-redeemable shares) and Wongani Vinkhumbo of Unilever South East Africa Limited (the highest number of shares).

The Sacco also held an election to fill two vacancies in the board and the members re-elected Zadziko Mankhambo of Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (Macra) and new face Blair Chitimbe of Malawi Housing Corporation (MHC).

The two triumphed over Mercy Chapenga of Nation Publications Limited (NPL) and George Kasakula of Times Group.

Later, the directors retained Mlanjira and Mankhambo as chairperson and vice-chairperson repectively.

In his remarks during the AGM, guest of honour Kalimwayi Matupa, registrar of cooperatives in the Ministry of Industry and Trade, encouraged Malawians to join Saccos, saying regular savings and easy access to credit improve people’s livelihoods.

On his part, Malawi Union of Savings and Credit Cooperatives (Muscco) representative Ezekiel Chirwa hailed Mudi Sacco for being one of the best performing Saccos in the country.

Mudi Sacco is one of the first eight in the country to have met requirements of the Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM) and get a licence.

According to Chirwa, six of the eight Saccos, including Mudi, belong to the zone Chapter One Saccos.