By Fred Sitati
The devastating drought being experienced in 30 counties in the country should prick the collective conscience of cooperators through their elected leaders to rise to the occasion by making monetary contributions to supplement the government efforts.
We have, in the recent past, noted how key private sector players led by the Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM) and Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA) have made separate contributions to go towards drought mitigation efforts in worst-hit ASAL areas.
Other humanitarian support continues to be received from some development partners and other humanitarian agencies such as the Red Cross and World Vision, among many others.
Being part of the private sector, it behooves the cooperative movement to also participate in this worthy cause as it did during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 where an ad hoc committee (Co-operative Corona Response Committee (CCRC) was constituted to support those adversely hit by the pandemic by mobilizing financial resources from co-operatives.
Accordingly, in keeping with the Co-operative Principle No. 7 – Concern for the Community – co-operatives need to respond to the passionate appeal made by the government to the private sector on a number of occasions to augment its efforts in supporting the most vulnerable communities that continue to bear the brunt of the ongoing drought disaster.
There should be a consultative meeting between the top co-operative movement leadership and the Co-operatives Cabinet Secretary with his top brass to lay down a framework for raising funds from both co-operatives and individual co-operators.
Arising from this consultative meeting, a Circular from the Ministry should be issued to all co-operatives through the County Directors of Co-operatives – it should provide a PayBill Number to which funds can be deposited.
In my view, a two-week deadline would be adequate for co-operative societies’ directors to meet and pass the necessary resolutions authorizing contributions from the relevant vote heads.
Upon expiry of the deadline, the co-operatives that will have contributed shall be listed in local dailies showing their individual contributions in the spirit of transparency and accountability.
Thereafter, the CS should liaise with the Head of State to set a suitable date for co-operatives to present their contributions to him.
The co-operative leadership should take advantage of their meeting with the President, once convened, to table their expectations from the new regime, top among them, fast-tracking the enactment of the Co-operative Societies Bill that has been pending for some time.
Moving forward, co-operatives being people-centred enterprises need to keep tabs on the takeaways from the COP27 Summit held in Egypt and integrate climate change interventions in all their future activities.
All in all, the co-operative sector should rise to the occasion and be on record as having participated in mitigating the challenges that Kenyans from 30 counties are grappling with through making financial contributions.
They surely cannot afford to stand aloof at this critical moment in the country’s history.
