Internship Carried Out At The AWING CENTRAL COOP-ERATIVE UNION (AWICCUL), BUEA BRANCH

ABSTRACT

This work is presented on a 1 month internship carried out at AWICCUL Ltd on industrial training. It is divided into three parts; one gives a brief history of AWICCUL Buea, aims and importance of internship. In my chapter Two, I talk about activities carried out during my internship such as registration of new members, updating individual ledger cards filling member’s loan form and pass book, receiving and paying cash, end of day reconciliation and inter-branch reconciliation. 

In chapter three which is my area of focus, I talk about the loan interest rate, calculation of loan interest, loan amortization and I show how to fill a loan management table. In chapter four, I talk about the problems faced during internship such as recording inter-branch liaison; I also talk about recommendation and conclusion.

CHAPTER ONE
GENERAL INTRODUCTION

1.1 BRIEF HISTORY OF AWING CREDIT UNION Ltd
The first successful credit union began in Germany under the leadership of Cooperative pioneer Hermann Schultze Delitzsch. This credit union is recognized today, since they adhered to the basic aspects of the cooperative identity that is, they were based on the values of self-help, self-responsibility, democracy, equity, equality and solidarity. In the tradition of the founders cooperative belief in the ethical values of honesty, openness, social responsibility and caring for others. Schultze is created with developing the bond of association which still forms the legal basis for credit union today.
1.1.1: HISTORY OF AWICCUL
AWICCUL is a savings and credit cooperative founded in 1968. The founding members of this credit union were farmers who usually sell their produce to marketing cooperatives board. Its common bond was later extended to all the villagers and even civil servants. This credit union is a micro finance establishment affiliated to CamCCUL Ltd.
The idea of this establishment was brought into Awing by a son of the land by name Mr. Alota Stephen who is now of late. As a clerk of the farmers’ cooperative, he noticed that most farmers usually sell their produce before harvesting. With this, he established the credit union with the help of CamCCUL Ltd. The credit union was split into three branches located in some quarters in the village .They later amalgamated to form one which is AWICCUL.
1.1.2- THE INTERNAL STRUCTURE OF AWICCUL
The internal structure consists of the following;
The General Assembly: It is made up of the shareholders of the credit union who are equally the members. It is the body that owns, controls, and takes charge of decision making in the credit union. It meets twice a year to scrutinize reports and proposals forwarded to the credit union through the board of directors. Any decision taken by the general assembly remains the only to be followed by the various parties concerned. It elects a board of directors to represent them in dealing with transactions or settling disputes. As such, it is the sole supreme body for any decision making in the credit union.
The Board of Directors: It consists of six directors elected in secret ballots by the G.A with proven managerial and leadership skills to represent the members in taking decisions and controlling the functioning of the credit union. These Directors are elected for three years term of office renewable twice. It is headed by the President. He is being aided by a vice and committees which include the Credit, Supervisory, Women, Youths and Education Committees.
The Supervisory committee: It acts like an auditor to the credit union. It supervises and corrects all the books or records kept by the credit union staff. It tries to sort out any irregularities in book keeping.t equally supervises the activities of the board and reports if any irregularities exist to the G.A.
The Credit Committee: It takes the responsibility of granting loans to needy members. It signs and approves all loan forms forwarded by the loan officer. It also assesses collaterals put by borrowers to secure loans as well as assess the credit worthiness of the borrower.
The Education Committee: It aims at educating members on the importance of credit union. It also carries out sensitization campaigns to educate the general public on the importance of becoming a member of the credit union. It also educates customers on how to best run their accounts.
The Youth and Women Committees: These two committees have similar functions but differ in the former is concerned with youths while the latter is concerned with women affairs. The committees were put up due to the absence of youths and women in decision making bodies of the credit union. These two committees seek to strike a balance in leadership amongst men, women and youths.

It educates youths and women on the prestige and importance of taking part in decision making.
The Staff: It consist of the secretary, loans officers, accountants, cashiers, accounts clerks, internal controllers, guards, cleaners. The secretary takes care of record keeping, registration of new members and taking of minutes during annual meetings. They cashier is responsible for receiving any cash paid in and all cash paid out of the credit union. The loan officer help members in completing the loan form as well as assessing the credit worthiness of the member and his abilities to repay.

The accountant prepares all the necessary monthly and annual financial report of the credit union.
All the above staff works with the collaboration of the board of directors and committees under specified departments. These departments include the loan, the member service and accounts department.

The staff is those who have direct dealings with the members in rendering services and being competent. They work in friendly relationship with the members. The internal structure of the credit union can be best understood through a clear look at the organizational chart.
1.1.3- AWICCUL ORGANISATIONAL CHART