Editorial by Ghanaian Times: MASLOC must reassess performance!!

The Microfinance and Small Loans Centre (MASLOC) was es­tablished in 2006, to provide microcredit and small loans to start-ups and small businesses with fast, easy accessibility to grow and expand their businesses.

The idea behind the estab­lishment of the centre is to reach out to as many clients as possible, especially those in the informal sector who are excluded from mainstream banking and are unable to access loans and credit from the formal banking sector.

Everyone thought bene­ficiaries would be guided by this noble objective, especially receiving loans at an interest rate of 12 percent per annum, the lowest in the country, and paying back the loans so that others could be reached.

It is, therefore, worrying that MASLOC is struggling to recover loans amounting to GH¢291,545,925 disbursed since 2008.

What accounts for the re­calcitrance of the beneficiaries to repay the loans?

The rumour is that some beneficiaries think MASLOC loans are an opportunity for them “to get their share of the national cake”.

After all, they do not see any serious action taken against defaulters over the years except a few court pros­ecutions whose conclusions are hardly made public.

Even though some district and regional managers and their teams go after default­ers, sometimes calling some of them before chiefs, family heads, and other community leaders to warn them, we think they treat them softly, which is one of the reasons for the recalcitrance to repay the loans.

If the repayment period is 12 months but managers start chasing defaulters sometimes after two years, who would care to attach urgency and seriousness to the repayment?

Meanwhile, MASLOC workers continue to draw their salaries, which in itself gives them the tacit encour­agement to relax or even renege on their duties.

It is about time the payment of MASLOC workers’ salaries is related to loan retrieval and profit made.

The way out is that the workers should get more serious, particularly the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and the managers at all levels.

They should avoid the flim­sy and disheartening excuses they give for their decimal or mediocre performance.

We, thus, applaud Dr. James Klutse Avedzi, the chair­man of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parlia­ment, for not mincing words in telling the Deputy Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of MASLOC, Paul Sarbeng, when he appeared before PAC in Accra yesterday that the performance of MAS­LOC was mediocre.

Why should Mr. Sarbeng even get the guts to tell PAC and, for that matter, the public that the outbreak of COVID-19 impacted nega­tively on businesses, hence their inability to pay back loans?

Can a pandemic breaking out in the country in 2020 be a good basis for not collecting loans outstanding since 2008?

The truth is simply that MASLOC is doing badly and must reassess itself and save its imminent collapse.

Listen to Dr. Avedzi talk to MASLOC through Mr. Sarbeng: “You have collect­ed only about four percent of the total amount (that is, outstanding loans since 2008) and that cannot be a job well done. This shows that MAS­LOC is not doing close to the recovery rate you told us. It is also a clear example that MASLOC is in trouble and you have no funds to operate or meet your mandate.”