Sacco Review | The Leading Newspaper for Co-operative Movement in Kenya
The Leading Newspaper for Co-operative Movement in Kenya
The government recently warned Saccos against the culture of declaring ‘impractical dividends’ to members at the expense of financial stability of the institutions. The government’s argument was that if not checked, the trend would lead to the collapse of many Saccos. Since their inception, Saccos have become very popular among Kenyans and provided financial services…
The recent media reports highlighting how one Sacco had lost billions of shillings through its leaders should serve as a wakeup call to all industry players. This may as well be a tip of the iceberg as cases of discontent abound in a number of Saccos across the country. But exactly what could be the…
As a financial year comes to an end, cooperatives need to review the year’s performance through the annual general meetings. Cooperatives are democratic organizations that are controlled by members, who actively participate in setting policies and making decisions. Members are the source of all authority and the basic unit of democratic control. Members need to…
The main reason for the establishment of a Sacco is to bring together members of the community with a common need. The Saccos are based on the cooperative values of self-help, responsibility, democracy, equality, equity and solidarity. These values are easy to maintain since the Saccos are formed by people who know each other very…
Rural Saccos play a critical role in providing financial solutions to rural communities as they offer savings and loan facilities to members, who are often smallholder farmers. However, many rural Saccos face challenges that hinder their effectiveness in delivering financial services. One of the biggest challenges facing rural Saccos is poor governance and management. In…
Following the liberalisation of the cooperative sector vide the Sessional Paper No 6 of 1997 and the subsequent enactment of the Cooperative Societies Act , No.12 of 1997 (Amendment 2004), supervisory committees were introduced in all cooperatives. Their mandate is to oversight cooperatives, a function that had hitherto been played by cooperative officers from the…
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…
By Fred Sitati The liberalization of the Cooperative Sector vide Sessional Paper No 6 of 1997 titled Cooperatives in a Liberalized Economic Environment gave Saccos a chance to rebrand to grow and enhance their competitiveness in the liberalized market. They rebranded by developing strategic plans that prioritize short and long term measures of achieving intended…
By Paul Ngugi Ruo Education, training and information, the fifth Cooperative principle, was established and adopted by the International Cooperative Alliance and later embraced locally through the enactment of the Cooperative Act. The goal and objective of this principle is to ensure that cooperative members understand their responsibilities and rights. The principle is to also…
By Victor Ochieng’ In the book Managers as Mentors, Chip R. Bell uses the acronym SAGE to summarise mentorship. ‘S’ stands for surrendering. This entails the leveling of learning and the kindling kinship as the mentor establishes rapport with mentee. ‘A’ connotes acceptance. This is the creation of a safe haven for risk-taking. The process…
