DODOMA: AS a Controller and Auditor General (CAG)’s 2024/25 report indicates that councils issued only 41 per cent of empowerment loans to women, youth and people with disabilities, the College of Business Education (CBE) has introduced a special programme to train local government officials to ensure the government’s empowerment initiative achieves its intended goals.
Speaking during the launch of the tailor-made training programme organised at the college’s Dodoma Campus early this week, CBE Rector Prof Edda Lwoga said the 10 participants from Mbulu, Babati, Dodoma and Karatu councils will be equipped with six key topics, including the foundations of managing loans issued to entrepreneurs.
Other areas of focus, according to the Rector, include loan risk management, strategies for loan repayment and monitoring, government policies and procedures, loan management, as well as the relationship between loans and entrepreneurship development.
She said the programme targets council officials whose responsibilities are directly linked to the issuance and management of the 4-4-2 loans, including community development officers, business officers, accountants, ward executive officers, district directors and beneficiaries.
“It is our optimism that this training will significantly reduce the risks of non-performing loans and increase the efficiency of loans issued by councils to the targeted groups,” Prof Lwoga noted.
The Rector said CBE understands that when these loans are properly managed, they become an important tool for increasing incomes, creating employment opportunities, strengthening small and medium enterprises, and promoting inclusive economic development.
The CBE boss congratulated district directors from Lindi, Babati, Mbulu and Karatu for allocating budgets that enabled their officials to attend the training at the Mbeya and Dodoma campuses. She urged participants to concentrate on the programme, saying the college expects them to bring positive changes in their respective working areas.
Launching the programme, Dodoma Regional Commissioner Ms Rosemary Senyamule hailed CBE for the initiative, saying it had been introduced at the right time amid challenges highlighted in the CAG report regarding the issuance of loans to women, youth and people with disabilities.
Quoting the 2024/25 CAG report issued in April this year, RC Senyamule said that out of 1.82bn/- approved for all councils to be issued as loans, only 41 per cent of the funds had been disbursed.
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“So, I should congratulate CBE for coming up with this programme at the right time, which I believe is going to be productive for the government,” she noted.
According to the Regional Commissioner, the loans provided to special groups are intended to build a participatory and inclusive economy. When properly planned, efficiently issued and effectively managed, they can help the government achieve its intended goals.
RC Senyamule used the opportunity to remind council leaders and executives to strengthen transparency, fairness and discipline in managing the loans issued by their respective councils.
“We need to ensure that the loans are issued to the intended beneficiaries, invested in productive activities, and repaid on time and efficiently so that other wananchi can also benefit,” she insisted.