Kampala residents fall for allure of quick cash

Joshua Masinde

KampalaThe queue outside the Tripple Pride Self Help Project near the Qualicel Bus Terminal in Kampala does not seem to ever diminish as an endless stream of people wait to deliver their cash deposit slips to the company’s officials.

Many of them have been made to believe that by depositing the money and attracting three others to join the scheme could be the gateway to accumulating as much as Shs10 million without breaking sweat. Ms Winnie Apio, a Makerere University student, is one such client.

Since she registered for the project early this year and convinced three friends to sign up too, Ms Apio says she has accumulated Shs150,000. “I checked the account and saw the money,” she said.

Like a typical pyramid scheme, the Tripple Pride project depends on initial recruiters who bring in other people to “invest” money in the scheme. The new member recruits another three people, each of whom are required to invest a similar amount of money. The only requirements for joining are a bank account, an initial deposit of Shs45,000 to deposit and recruitment of three people into the scheme.

Every new member is required to deposit Shs10,000 into the project’s account and a separate Shs5,000 for each of seven already registered members. The scheme is based on the assumption that there will be a continuous recruitment of new members and even those who accumulate the maximum amount of Shs10 million will open new accounts and continue to help the scheme thrive.

But that’s where the first cracks appear in the project plan. Ms Apio says she does not plan to wait until she reaches the deposit ceiling of Shs10,935,000. “Once I get something like Shs400,000 I will stop my membership,” she said. But a manager at the Qualicel Branch of Tripple Pride, who asked to be identified only as Andrew, claims the scheme is unlike pyramid schemes or the gift circles that led to the loss of lots of money in 2003 in Uganda.

He says that unlike other gift circles where money is exchanged ‘hand-to-hand’, Tripple Pride has come up with the idea of having people exchange money through banking, which he claims reduces fraud. Like other officials however, Andrew is tight-lipped about details of the company’s operations, including the amount of money they have accumulated so far and the number of members who have joined the scheme.

A flyer advertising the project says its vision is to alleviate poverty through helping people accumulate money. “This perfect match maker connects conscious business people who are eager to integrate values with many thousands of people that are looking for their dreams to come true.

Tripple Pride has other branches in Nakivubo, Wandegeya, Mukono, Kawempe, Shauri Yako, Nansana, Mengo, Pride Theatre, City Centre Complex, Uganda House, Kibuye, Kavule and Platinum House. It has a total of 15 branches in Kampala, Entebbe, Mukono and Jinja districts.When contacted, Central Bank deputy public relations officer, Joy Kaahwa said the bank did not have details about the operations of the Tripple Pride scheme.

Kampala area MP Elias Lukwago, however, said pyramid schemes have become very sophisticated as they come as NGOs and deprive the public of all their money. “There so many such schemes in the country today but it is so unfortunate the government has not come out to do anything,” said Mr Lukwago. “Something needs to be done now”.

Kampala City Council Publicist, Simon Muhumuza, said the scheme was not recognised by the city authorities. “These are fakes,” he said. “Such people need to be arrested instead for conning the public. This is a police case. We don’t believe there is free money that can just be issued out like that.”

Last year, residents of Jinja were left in tears after Dutch International, a money saving scheme conned them of Shs11.4 billion. With promises of interest earnings of 30 per cent per month, many deposited as much as Shs2.5 million. While members expect a “Tripple” return on their investments, they are likely to end up with zero returns.

Additional reporting by Eve Mashoo