The Chief Executive Officer of Microfinance and Small Loans Centre (MASLOC), Abibata Shanni Mahama Zakaria, has cautioned beneficiaries to settle their debts else risk being prosecuted.

According to her, recovering loans granted to beneficiaries has proven to be difficult. This she said has prevented the Centre from providing others with loans.

"Beneficiaries in the then Volta Region and now Volta and Oti Regions owed GH¢5million, we were able to recover only GH¢500,000, which is just 10per cent," she said.

Hajia Shanni Zakaria in an interview with JoyNews after a stakeholders meeting in Ho, noted that the monies recovered from defaulters will enable the Centre to expand. She therefore reached out to the relevant stakeholders to assist in the collection of the monies.

She noted that the focus of the Centre is to ensure that market women benefit more from the loans so they can expand their businesses.

The CEO also commended the officers in the Ashanti Region for being the best in loan recovery and urged other regions to do same. According to Shanni Zakaria, it is the hope of MASLOC to recover at least about 84% of loans by 2024.

On his part, Volta Regional Director of MASLOC, MacJohn Kale, noted that public sensitization will go a long way to ensure the beneficiaries settle their debts with the Centre.

Meanwhile, MASLOC has noted that the Centre is open to every Ghanaian above the age of 18 years irrespective of political affiliations.