📘 The Rules

Every rule the Susu Manager enforces — from contributions to payment windows to how winners are chosen. Read once, benefit for the entire cycle.

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1 Contributions & Cycle Length 2 Payment Window 3 Eligibility to Win 4 Ranking Criteria 5 Member Types 6 Fairness System 7 Weekly Queue Behaviour 8 Worked Example

💰 Contributions & Cycle Length

How much each member pays and how long a cycle runs.

  1. Weekly contribution = GHS 200.00 = 1 slot.
  2. A member commits to N slots at registration (1, 2, 3, … up to 20).
  3. The member pays N × GHS 200.00 every week — the same amount for the whole cycle.
  4. A cycle runs for as many weeks as the total number of committed slots across all members.
  5. Once committed, the weekly amount is fixed for the entire cycle.
  6. Every member keeps paying weekly until the cycle ends, even after receiving all payouts.
Example: 5 members each commit 1 slot → total = 5 slots → 5-week cycle. Every week the pot = GHS 1,000.00.

⏰ Payment Window

When payments are accepted — set by the admin and enforced strictly.

  1. The admin sets: cycle start date, payment day, window open hours, window close hour, and grace period.
  2. These settings apply to every week of the cycle.
  3. Window for week N: due date = start + (N − 1) × 7 days.
  4. The window opens 48 hours before the due day.
  5. The window closes at 23:00 on the due day.
  6. Grace period: 6 hours after close.
When a member pays… Result
Before the window opens Rejected — button disabled
Within the window Accepted — marked on time
Within the grace period Accepted — marked in grace
After grace ends Accepted — marked late (penalised in the ranking)
Current window configuration:
Payment day = Monday · Opens 48h early · Closes at 23:00 · Grace = 6h

✅ Eligibility to Win

Only these two conditions decide if a member can win this week's pot.

  1. Must have paid this week — a successful contribution exists for the current week.
  2. Must still have slots remaining: slots_committed − payouts_received > 0.
Note: Fairness, member type, and payment time affect ranking only — not eligibility. A member stays in the queue until they have received all their committed slots.

🏆 Ranking Criteria (Strict Order)

Applied in this exact order. A lower criterion only matters when everything above is tied.

1
Fairness group ✅ Good standing (fairness ≥ 60) beats ⚠️ Demoted (fairness < 60)
2
Member type ⭐ Old beats 🆕 New — no exceptions
3
Payment time (this week) Earlier payment wins — exact second precision
4
Net slots More net slots wins = (slots paid this cycle) − (slots received via payouts)
5
Fairness score Higher fairness score breaks any remaining tie
Key rule: No matter how many slots a member has or how early they paid, a demoted member can never outrank a good-standing member in the queue. Same for New vs Old.

👥 Member Types

Every member is either Old or New, and it affects where they rank.

Type Who they are How they rank
⭐ Old Members carried over from a previous cycle, or manually promoted Ranked normally
🆕 New Members who joined mid-cycle Ranked below every Old member
Note: New members still pay weekly — they just wait their turn. When a new cycle starts, all members become Old.

⚖️ Fairness System

Rewards reliable post-payout payment and demotes those who default.

  1. When a member wins a payout, the system starts tracking their post-payout payments.
  2. It records: weeks paid after, weeks missed, and average delay.
  3. At the end of the cycle, a fairness score (0–100) is computed for every winner.
  4. The score is carried into the next cycle as their starting reputation.
  5. Members with score ≥ 60 are in good standing — normal ranking.
  6. Members with score < 60 are demoted — they rank below every good-standing member.
  7. Demoted members are never excluded — they can still win if all good-standing members above them are ineligible.
  8. Consistent on-time payment in the new cycle restores their score for the next cycle.
fairness = 100 − (weeks_missed × 20) − (avg_delay_hours ÷ 10) + (weeks_paid_after_payout × 2) clamped to [0, 100]
Why this matters: If a member takes the pot but doesn't keep paying, their fairness drops. When the next cycle begins, they will be ranked below everyone who paid reliably — even if they have more slots or pay earlier.

📅 Weekly Queue Behaviour

The queue re-ranks automatically every week.

  1. Every week, the queue is recomputed from scratch.
  2. The criteria stay the same — only the inputs change.
  3. Inputs that change weekly: payment time, eligibility, net slots, payouts received.
  4. The rotation naturally progresses — winners get skipped once they've received all their slots.
  5. When every member has received every committed slot, the cycle auto-completes.

📖 Worked Example

A 4-member, 5-slot cycle over 5 weeks.

Group: Ama (1 slot), Kofi (2 slots), Yaw (1 slot), Esi (1 slot). Total = 5 slots → 5-week cycle.
Week Winner Pot Why
Week 1 Ama GHS 1,000.00 Old + earliest payment
Week 2 Kofi GHS 1,000.00 Old + earliest — Ama excluded (0 slots left)
Week 3 Kofi GHS 1,000.00 Kofi still had 1 slot remaining → wins again
Week 4 Yaw GHS 1,000.00 Only eligible member with slots left
Week 5 Esi GHS 1,000.00 Last remaining member
After week 5: everyone has received the number of slots they committed to. The cycle completes and fairness scores are computed for the next cycle.
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