Savings and Credit Co-operatives (SACCOs) in the country have been awarded for their good performance in the year ended 2023 in Award Ceremony and Luncheon for Ushirika Day celebrations held in Nairobi on Friday .
Some of the Saccos Awarded include Kenya National Police Sacco that was awarded Best Managed Sacco in the country, Tembo Sacco Limited took second place with Port Sacco taking third position.
The event was presided over by Wycliffe Oparanya Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Cooperatives and MSME who commended the Saccos for their success, urging them to continue to work with govt to build a brighter future for all Kenyans through the power of cooperation.
“We take cognizance of the role that cooperatives play in economic growth, social development, and the empowerment of communities across our nation, as we celebrate the success the ministry will also take candid look at the state of governance within the cooperatives,” the CS said.
He noted that Kenyan cooperative movement is the largest in Africa, and 7th largest in the world, the government has prioritized cooperatives in its Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA), due to the ability of the cooperatives to pool resources together for purposes of member refinancing through Saccos, as well as aggregation for marketing and investment.
The Chairman of the National Council for Ushirika Day Celebrations Macloud Malonza said this year, The National Ushirika Council commissioned an independent consultant, Coop Consultancy And Bancassurance Intermediary Limited for the adjudication exercise.
The exercise rigorously assessed Co-Operative Societies across various categories, evaluating them based on their service excellence, adherence to co-operative principles, capitalization, savings, credit and risk management, innovation, and social impact.
”International Co-Operative Day, popularly known as Ushirika Day, is celebrated on the first Saturday of July every year. Its aim is to increase awareness’ on cooperatives and promote the movement’s successes and ideals of international solidarity, economic efficiency, equality, and world peace,” he said.
This year’s Theme, “Co-Operatives Build a Better Future for All,” is a reflection of the impact co-operatives have in transforming livelihoods and fostering sustainable growth.
The chair said co-operative sector continues to demonstrate strong resilience in challenging times witnessed this year. Co-operatives remain stable as we have seen great strides in both agricultural and financial co-operatives this year.
The agricultural co-operatives there has been increased production across all major, coffee farmers encountered better prices, increased food production, and the tea farmers are expected to earn the largest bonus ever in a while.
In financial co-operatives are growing in double digits while return to members has also been commendable. The forecast for the sector is very promising as they head towards the final quarter of the year as co-operatives start closing their books.
PS State Department of Cooperatives Patrick Kilemi applauded the National Council for Ushirika Day celebrations for conducting a fair and free vetting process to ensure deserving cooperators were awarded.
“Hongera to the outstanding co-operatives who have excelled in their various lines of business to scoop the awards. the co-operative movement in the country is a key enabler of the government’s bottom-up economic transformation agenda,” he said.
The PS noted that the awards serve as a benchmark to good governance and management within deposit-taking co-operative societies.
Cooperative Alliance of Kenya CEO Daniel Marube said the awards aim to inspire even greater achievements and the future of the sector is bright.
The recently released Sacco Supervision Annual Report of 2023 by SASRA highlighted that Kenyans showed increased confidence in Saccos by saving a total of Ksh 682.19 billion, reflecting a 9.95% growth from Ksh 620.45 billion saved in the year 2022.
The SACCO loan portfolio expanded by 11.5% with gross loans growing from Kshs 680.35 billion in 2022 to Kshs 758.57 billion in 2023, a clear testament to Kenyans patronizing their SACCOs.
By Obegi Malack
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