The Prince of Peace (POP) Co-operative Credit Union at Kwashieman, Accra, has held its Fifth Annual General Meeting with an appeal to members who had taken loans to repay promptly to avoid collapsing the Union.
Mr. K. Berko-Mensah, Board Chairman, said their inability to repay loans taken was denying others from benefitting from the facility.
He further advised loan beneficiaries not to divert monies borrowed from the purpose for which they were granted to avoid huge indebtedness to the Union.
He thanked the members for their commitment to the Union, saying that in spite of challenges, the investment portfolios of the Union had increased in leaps and bounds and encouraged the members to regularly attend meetings and participate actively in the Union’s activities.
Nana Kwasi Agyapong, General Manager of Credit Union Associations (CUA), noted that the Bank of Ghana had come out with a new law which compels Credit Unions to be licensed before they could operate.
He said some of the 600 Credit Unions in Ghana might not meet the requirement but there were plans by CUA to merge some of the Unions especially those formed by Churches, to help regulate their operations.
Mr. Mike Yeboah, Chairman of the Parish Pastoral Council on behalf of the Union, presented a Citation to Very Rev. Fr. Edmund Donkor-Baine, Parish Priest of Prince of Peace Church, to express appreciation to him for his contribution towards the growth of the Union.
Mr. Agyapong also presented the Certificate of Registration to Mr. Berko-Mensah while some Union members received Citations and parcels in recognition of their contribution to the development of the Union.
Present was Mr. Kenneth Adjei Bosompem, Regional Manager of the Accra Chapter of Credit Unions.
The Credit Union was first introduced in Ghana by Rev. Fr. John McNulty, an Irish- Canadian Missionary, at Jirapa in September 1955, to alleviate the poverty of the people he was working with in the Upper West Region.
In 1960, when Pope John XXIII appointed Most Rev. Peter Porekuu Dery as the Bishop of Wa, he encouraged the formation of Credit Unions in all the Parishes, among them were Nandom, Kaleo, Ko, Daffiama, Wa, Lawra and Tumu.
The Bishop gathered courage at that time and met the then President Dr. Kwame Nkrumah to discuss issues relating to the Credit Unions Movement in Ghana.
In 1967, the Credit Unions in the North were merged into a chapter because of the advice from the White Fathers. The Credit Unions in the South also felt the need to come together for training programmes and an exchange of experience with their counterparts from the North.
Following a meeting sponsored by CUMA International in Lesotho in January, 1968, the idea of a National Association in Ghana was conceived.
A follow-up conference was held in April in Tamale the same year giving birth to the Ghana National Union and Thrift Association, the forerunner of the Ghana Co-operative Credit Unions Association (CUA) Limited.
The duties of CUA are to promote, educate, organise and support the Credit Union Movement nationally and internationally.
