The Ministry of Small and Medium Enterprise Development has started reviewing the Cooperatives Societies Act (the Act) to enhance the legal status of the cooperative movement and align it with the recently launched 2024–2028 National Cooperatives Development Policy.
Earlier this year, speaking when he officially launched the first-ever cooperative comprising members of the legal fraternity, the Minister of Small and Medium Enterprise Development, Elias Mubanga, intimated that his ministry had embarked on reviewing the Act and the Cooperatives Policy and called upon Law Association of Zambia (LAZ) to partake in the review.
He said his ministry has been working towards transforming the cooperative movement in the country from agro-based cooperatives to cooperatives in all sectors.
Lawyers Multi-Purpose Cooperative Society Limited
On 28 January 2024, LAZ launched the Lawyers Multi-Purpose Cooperative Society Limited.
According to LAZ President, Lungusani Zulu, the Lawyers Multi-Purpose Cooperative Society Limited is the approved special purpose vehicle in furtherance of the welfare of LAZ members through collective savings and investment.
Lungisani explained that through the Lawyers Cooperative, every LAZ member will be able to save a minimum of 1000 kwacha monthly, money that will be safely invested in government securities and, in the future, in other sectors of the economy. He added that a cooperative member will be eligible for a ZMW50,000 funeral grant in the event of death.
The Lawyers Multi-Purpose Cooperative Society Limited is chaired by Dr. Tukiya Kankasa-Mabula, who revealed that by January 2024, the cooperative had raised about ZMW700,000 investments in government securities.
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