The government has refused to renew the operating license of all the money lenders for violating regulations.
This was announced by Haruna Kasolo Kyeyune, the Minister of State for Microfinance and Small Enterprises, during the Bunyoro sub region leaders meeting held at Kigumba Petroleum Institute in Kiryandongo district on Thursday, 20th March 2025.
The meeting is part of President Yoweri Kaguta’s tour of the region to assess the implementation of the Parish Development Model (PDM) and other wealth creation programs.
Minister Haruna Kasolo said the government has denied to renew or issue new operating license to all money lenders until further notice after they persistently continued to flout operating regulations issued by the Microfinance Centre.
He ordered Resident District Commissioners, RDCs to close down all money lenders operating within their jurisdictions.
The Minister also ordered that no money lender should confiscate the national identification card of a client as collateral.
According to Minister Kasolo, the government has only allowed money lenders to strictly charge a monthly interest not exceeding 2.8%.
The government decision to deny money lenders operating licenses stemmed from various complaints regarding confiscation of their national IDs, a move that made them miss out on the Parish Development Model programs and other social services that require identification.
