Ho, Dec. 6, - The Volta Regional Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) Employees Co-operative Union, has been urged to open its common bond to cover spouses of members, to enable the society increase its capital base.
Mr Ampoma Kusi, Volta Regional Cooperative Officer made the suggestion at the Union's Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Ho on Saturday.
He said even though the Volta ECG Union's savings ratio of, one member to 2.5 million cedis, made it the highest and most consistent "saver" in the region, the growth of its share capital base remained sluggish because if its small numbers.
Mr Kusi commended the Union for raising its share capital per member to 200,000 cedis and asked it to ensure that it collects all interest on loans, since the core business of a credit union, is the "buying and selling of money".
Mr Justin Justice Dandzo, Chairman of the Management Board said the union currently has 343 members with total savings of 859,474,589.79 cedis, an increase of 47.69 per cent over the 2002 figures of 581,930,035 cedis. He said henceforth, management will ensure that all members who borrowed from the union paid the three per cent correct rate of interest and hinted that all interest lost to the society will also be retrieved.
Mr Dandzo said out of a total of 598,180,000 granted as loan to members during the year under review, 483,145,385, representing 81 per cent was for building projects and school fees and the balance for funerals and minor projects. He announced a 10 per cent dividend on shares for the year under review, which would be credited to each shareholders savings account.
Mr Paul Kotobrija, Volta Regional Chapter Chairman of Cooperative Unions Associations asked management of the ECG Union to diversify its product base by introducing savings for specific purposes such as towards Christmas shopping. He explained that under such arrangements a member saves for a specific period for a specific project and collects his savings with interest.
Mr Godfried Kyeremanten, Director of Administration of the ECG asked the Union in the Volta Region, which is the first to be established within the company, to share its experiences with other regions, to enable them to start similar schemes.
He conceded that lines of financial help open to members of the union had come to relieve the ECG of some of the demands that workers made on it.
