Kampala — THE Government has started a loan scheme to avoid illegal and forceful evictions of tenants.

Under the land acquisition loan, tenants who legally refuse to buy land when a landlord intends to sell it, can apply for the loan with proof that they are able to pay back.

Gen. Salim Saleh, the micro-finance state minister, disclosed that the loan was part of the Bona bagaggawale (Prosperity-For-All) programme.

He was speaking during a Mukono county leader's forum on Friday. He said funds would be released through the micro-finance support centre.

Saleh did not state the interest rate or the amount at stake for the land acquisition loan.

"This is a long-term remedy for cases of land evictions in districts like Mukono and others in the central region," he said.

Saleh said the Government had entered an agreement with the Uganda Cooperative Savings and Credit Union to implement the rural finance service intended to empower Ugandans under Prosperity-For-All programme.

The union, which is a member of the world council of credit unions, will rent offices for lead Savings and Cooperative Companies(SACCOs) in each sub-county for the first two years.

It will also offer start-up kits like paying salaries of three top officials, furniture and stationery, to the lead SACCOs over the same period.

"We are ready to disburse the money, to any registered SACCO starting this month," he said.

Mukono LC5 chairman Francis Lukooya said 83 SACCOs, with savings of sh31b and a loan portfolio of sh20b, were operating in the district.

He said: "Our SACCOs still need a big push in terms of funding from the Government. Once this is done, farming, fishing and other businesses will sprout."

David Matovu, the resident district commissioner, noted that the district was strategically located.

He said entrepreneurs in the country lacked the consistency to feed local and international markets with products.