Premier touts empowerment loans
NYANG’WALE, Geita: Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa has launched Nyang’hwale District Economic Empowerement Center in Geita region, urging residents to seek empowerment loans issued to youth, women and people with disabilities.
The loan facility was reinstated by President Samia Suluhu Hassan directive in April this year after it was put to ice a year ago.
Prime Minister told residents in Geita, the loans were an option to enhance their economic development. The new center was built with support from the National Economic Empowerment Council (NEEC) and is expected to be one of the center of excellence in providing business and entrepreneurship education in the region.
“I want to urge you to organise yourselves into groups to qualify for this government-supported scheme,” he said. “Groups can easily access these loans, and the process is straightforward.”
Deputy Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister, Ummy Nderiananga, expressed gratitude to President Dr. Samia Suluhu Hassan for consistently allocating funds to the National Economic Empowerment Council (NEEC), enabling them to implement various economic empowerment programs.
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She told their Premier, the office will continue to oversee the National Economic Empowerment Council to ensure its effectiveness in empowering citizens economically.
Last year, Majaliwa directed local authorities to halt the disbursement of loans to women’s groups, youth, and persons with disabilities funded from local collections.
The Prime Minister informed the Parliament that the suspension of these loans is to allow the government to establish a new system for their distribution.
He made these remarks while concluding the debate on the estimates and expenditure of the Office of the Prime Minister, its institutions, and the Parliamentary Fund for the fiscal year 2023/2024.
Majaliwa highlighted complaints from Members of Parliament regarding the inadequate amount of funds allocated for loans to youth, women, and persons with disabilities.
“Moreover, there have been challenges in some councils where these funds are disbursed to council employees or sometimes to ghost groups instead of the intended beneficiaries, leading to non-repayment of the loans,” Majaliwa said.
He added, “I direct all councils nationwide to suspend the disbursement of these loan funds from collections made from April to June 2023 while the government is preparing to establish a new system for loan disbursement.”
