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| Shey Benjamin Serkfem |
The Buea
Police Cooperative Credit Union (BuPCCUL), started since 1967-that is 45 years ago-
is still very reliable today, the Union President and Chairman of Board of
Directors, Shey Benjamin Serkfem ,has said, calling on the cooperators and the
general public to also trust the Cameroon
Cooperative Credit Union League (CAMCCUL), the network to which BuPCCUL
belongs.
“BupCCUL is
quite trust-worthy and even its umbrella organization, CAMCCUL.If CAMCCUL was
not worth-counting on, how come of the over 400 micro-finance institutions in
Cameroon, more than 200 of them are within the CAMCCUL.CAMCCUL is the biggest
network in the CEMAC region.”
Shey Serkfem,
was speaking to the press on Saturday, October 20 at Catholic Mission Hall,Buea
shortly after the 2012 General Education
Meeting(GEM) of the Buea Police Credit Union, which held on under the theme
“Credit Union Loans, Recovery and Union Growth”, as well as an extra-ordinary general meeting of BUPCCUL intended
to deliberate on the Union’s conformity to OHADA Uniform Acts on cooperative
banks.
Presentations
at the massively attended GEM, and which were commended by cooperators included:
BuPCCUL Loan Product and the Loan
Granting Process by
Amungwa Felicita-BuPCCUL Head Office Manager
Nchang; Current Delinquency at BuPCCUL
and Recovery Measures for the CamCCUL network by Gamkong John Ney- Chairman BuCCUL Load
Recovery Committee & Mr. Ewane Elvis-CamCCUL Fako Chapter Lending &
Collection Assistant; The Recovery Action
Plan of BuPCCUL for 2012 by Shey Benjamin Serkfem,Union President &
Board Chair , & Mrs. Mafany Queen- Union Vice President /Chair of Credit
Committee; The Risk Management Policy of
CamCCUL by Mrs. Mirabel Chulepakong-CamCCUL Technical Support Officer for
BupCCUL)
Another important presentation was: Highlights on the CamCCUL Renewed Principles
and key Changes towards conformity to the OHADA Uniform Acts on Cooperative
banks.
President Serkfem threw this challenge to cooperators: “The
strength of any credit union depends on the education and participation of its
members. Know you’re your credit union and participate in its growth”
Later same day at the Extra-General Assembly,
BupCCUL President Shey Benjamin Serkfem, in his welcome speech, said the meeting
was holding on the instruction of the minister of Finance towards “our specific
conformity to the OHADA Uniform Acts on cooperative banks.”
Of course,
the representatives of the Minister of Finance and that of the Minister of Agriculture
& Rural Development (MINADER) witnessed the Extra- ordinary General
Assembly deliberations.Mr. Vesoh Pius, SW Registrar of Cooperatives, sat in for
MINADER.
Also present
were presidents of sister unions and the Vice-president of CamCCUL.
“BuPCCUL was
one of the pioneer CUs that came together to form CamCCUL.We thus believe in
the CU principle of coming together for improved democracy, shared strength,
mutual support and the importance of a strong, formidable ,united and
representative league with effective internal systems of fighting
malpractices”, noted BuPCCUL president.
Shey SerkFem particularly
lauded the presence of the two ministers’ envoys, noting:
“The
microfinance sector is about the country’s money, the cooperatives are about
the local production economy and the two are about food on the table for the
grassroots masses, so when government does its duty by facilitating, showing
concern and maintaining peace and order the people appreciate it a lot”
The focus of
the Extra-ordinary General assembly was to answer two questions:
1)
What
is the choice of the duration of a mandate? A choice which the OHADA Uniform
Acts on cooperative banks leaves to the credit Unions and their networks.
2)
Who
should be eligible for elections when there are new by-laws?
Answers: The Assembly voted for a 3-year term
of office, renewable twice and also voted “for more accountability and
performance evaluation which meant that even within a 3-year mandate, a poorly
performance director or elected committee member on a vote of no-confidence
could be kicked out of office”
President Serkfem admitted that “Our Union is under
stress from losses due to baldly granted loans, bad repayment of loans, poor
administration, mismanagement and fraud”.
But quickly
assured the cooperators, “Your newly elected representatives are making
ground-breaking efforts to turn things around and regain our profitability. It
is in the interest of the Union that everyone especially those who now have a
grip of the situation to be given a chance to contribute to the revival of our
union”
President
Serkfem urged cooperators to pray for God’s direction in the management of the
union and members agreed that on Sunday October 21 they would all volunteer a
church offering and a prayer for the
continued success of BuPCCUL, its members and their activities.
The assembly
was also used as an opportunity to award certificates of recognition to some
Union workers and officials. Both meetings ended on a good note, as members
called for more concerted efforts to keep the union afloat and on the path of
banking success.
First Published in The Recorder Newspaper ,Cameroon,of October 25,2012
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