Regional News of Friday, 17 October 2003

Source: GNA

Loan defaulters to face court action

Dormaa-Ahenkro (B/A), Oct 17, GNA- Chance Brothers Co-operative Credit Union at Dormaa-Ahenkro has ordered 123 members who owe the union a total of 167 million cedis in loans granted them to repay by the end of December this year or face legal action.

The Union took the action at a general meeting on Thursday. Mr. Albright Opoku-Kyeremeh, Acting Manager, said failure by the members to repay the loans had adversely affected the union's operations.

He announced an increase in the entrance fees for new members from 40,000 cedis to 50,000 cedis due to the high cost in the processing of documents.

Mr. Opoku-Kyeremeh said a directive from the Credit Union Association (CUA) on loan protection plan entitled every member to a 100 million cedis loan.

He appealed to members to take advantage of the opportunity to expand their businesses.

Mr. James Ameyaw-Yeboah, Manager of the Dormaa District Teachers' Credit Union, who talked about the low delinquency rate, advised members to invest their loans in profitable ventures.

He said every credit union aimed at reaping profits and called on the management of such unions to educate members to repay loans granted them.

Instituting legal action against members for failure to pay back loans should be a last resort, he said. Madam Rose Yeboah, chairperson of the union who presided, urged members to attend meetings to enable them to take a collective decision to promote the growth of the union.