Dodoma women urged to join SACCOS, avoid exploitative loans
DODOMA: WOMEN in Dodoma Region have been urged to join savings and credit cooperative societies (Saccos) as a sustainable solution to access capital and avoid exploitative moneylenders, commonly known as ‘mikopo umiza or kausha damu’.
The call was made by the Chairperson of Dodoma Women Saccos (DOWOSA), Ms Kitolina Kippa, during the third annual general meeting of the cooperative held recently in Dodoma.
Ms Kippa said DOWOSA was established to unite and empower women economically by providing affordable loans, training, and opportunities for small-scale entrepreneurs to grow their businesses.
“Our aim is to free women from the burden of high-interest loans. Here, the interest rate is only one per cent designed to lift women, not to drain them,” she emphasised.
She said the Saccos currently has 580 registered members, of whom 193 are active after meeting all membership requirements, including paying entry fees, purchasing 10 shares, and maintaining savings.
According to Ms Kippa, total member shares have reached 23.9m/-, while savings stand at 79m/- as of September 2025. Loans worth 227.8m/- have already been issued to members.
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Despite these achievements, she cited challenges such as low participation among women, delayed loan repayments, and high demand for loans compared to the available capital.
“Some members have been inactive due to failure to complete their shares or savings, while a few borrowers delay repayments, causing penalties. At times, loan requests exceed our current financial capacity,” she said.
Ms Kippa revealed that the board plans to increase share contributions from 10 to 15 to boost capital and raise the entry fee for new members to 50,000 shillings, shares to 150,000 shillings, and savings to 100,000 shillings. She also announced that inactive members who fail to complete their shares by January will be removed from the registry.
“We want every woman to be productive. No woman should sit at home claiming she has nothing to do. Even small traders can borrow in the morning and repay 11,000 shillings in the evening, the goal is to lift women economically,” she said.
The Cooperative Bank’s Dodoma Branch Manager, Mr Abdallah Salun, said the bank continues to support Saccos through liquidity loans to enable them to serve their members effectively.
“We provide financial backing to Saccos, and they in turn lend to their members at low interest rates,” he said.
DOWOSA Board Member, Ms Mary Mabhaya, said the cooperative will step up efforts to educate and mobilise more women to join and benefit from its affordable financial services.
