Twenty years of Wazalendo: how the army's SACCO grew to Shs1.4 trillion

When delegates from units and divisions of the Uganda People's Defence Forces gathered at Gaddafi Barracks in Jinja for Wazalendo SACCO's annual general meeting, the numbers on the screen told the story of one of the most remarkable institutions in Uganda's cooperative movement. According to the SACCO's Integrated Report 2025, total assets have risen from Shs210b in 2016 to Shs1.42 trillion, and the annual surplus from Shs24b to Shs106b — an increase of 338 percent.

Board chairman Lt Gen Sam Kavuma described Wazalendo as the best-performing SACCO in Uganda, and on the figures presented it is hard to argue. Its loan portfolio grew from Shs181b to Shs1.12 trillion over the decade, and cumulative loan disbursements climbed from Shs56b to Shs3.85 trillion.

The meeting, held under the theme "Sustainable Growth and Quality Member Services", drew Defence Minister Jacob Oboth-Oboth and Commander Land Forces Lt Gen Kayanja Muhanga, who represented the Chief of Defence Forces, among other senior figures.

What makes Wazalendo instructive for other SACCOs is that its growth has been translated into tangible member benefits. Membership rose from 66,683 in 2016 to 117,171 in 2025, a 76 percent increase. Dividends per share climbed from Shs1,019 to Shs2,523 — a 139 percent rise that Lt Gen Kavuma presented as evidence of the SACCO's commitment to affordable credit and to empowering members financially — while the maximum loan a member can take grew from Shs40m to Shs850m, depending on savings.

The SACCO also invested in reach. A decade ago it had a single cash branch; by 2025 it had 14, plus liaison offices and an investment arm, with a further office planned for Nakasongola. Average monthly disbursements rose from Shs11b to Shs63b, a sign of how central the SACCO has become to the financial lives of soldiers and their families.

Lt Gen Kavuma urged members to put their borrowing into income-generating ventures such as business and land, rather than consumption — a message that echoes the wider cooperative principle that credit should build member wealth, not just bridge shortfalls.

Wazalendo enjoys advantages most SACCOs do not: a common bond rooted in a single, disciplined employer, predictable salary-based savings and a membership spread across the country. It has also long been a showcase. When an International Cooperative Alliance delegation led by its then president Ariel Guarco visited Uganda in January 2019, Wazalendo was one of the institutions it toured.

But the governance choices are transferable. The integrated report emphasises investment in risk management systems and technology, including artificial intelligence, alongside safeguarding members' financial security. Those are exactly the areas where many parish and Emyooga SACCOs are weakest.

Scale matters too. Wazalendo's 117,171 members compare with the just over one million members that World Council of Credit Unions figures for 2022 counted across Uganda's 896 affiliated credit unions. The figures are not strictly like-for-like, but they suggest that a single well-governed common-bond SACCO can account for a meaningful share of the country's organised credit-union membership.

Lt Gen Kavuma framed the next decade in continental terms. While there are other large SACCOs, including those in Kenya, he said, Wazalendo is among the fastest-growing and is looking to become the best, even though those ahead of it started earlier. Retired General Kale Kayihura was among the guests who heard him set out that ambition.

The integrated report sets out three priorities for the SACCO's third decade: deepening financial inclusion, expanding its investment portfolio and strengthening institutional capacity. In practice that means more physical access points — Lt Gen Kavuma noted that members can now reach their money through several offices — alongside continued spending on systems that protect members' funds.

For the rest of the movement, the more modest ambition might be this: that well-run SACCOs of every size show the same discipline in reporting, risk and member returns. Wazalendo's growth did not come from a single government grant; it came from members saving consistently, borrowing productively and being paid a rising dividend for their loyalty.