The former Cabinet Secretary (CS) for Co-operatives and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Development Simon Chelugui has handed over the docket to the newly appointed CS Wycliffe Oparanya, with the later promising to implement initiatives started by his predecessor.
Speaking during the handing over ceremony at the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) office on Wednesday, Oparanya said that he is committed to take off from the good foundation Chelugui laid in reviving the cooperative movement in the country.
He said among issues he will push for passing include the Co-operative Societies Bill no 7 of 2024 that will address long standing governance problems in the cooperatives sector, reduce conflicts of interest between various organs of a cooperative institution among other key issues .
At the same time, the former CS Simon Chelugui said during his time in office, he realized several achievements, that include the Co-operative Societies Bill no 7 0f 2024 , Coffee Bill 2024 and shared services technology platform draft bill 2024.
He noted that during his tenure, in coffee sector there was enhanced of Cherry Advance Revolving Fund from Ksh 2.7 billion to Ksh 6.7 billion to enable increased payment to farmers from Ksh 20 per kilo to Ksh 80 per kilo.
READ ALSO:
Chelugui noted that the sector has also challenges that need to be addressed these include MSMEs access to credit, access to affordable credit, criminalization of MSMEs work and cross county multiple taxes, bureaucracies and Regulatory Compliance Costs among others.
Principal Secretary Cooperatives Patrick Kilemi on his end said Chelugui has been behind many reforms in the Ministry.
The PS said the new CS is capable to continue to drive the sector to positive growth.
While his counterpart PS Principal SMEs Susan Mang’eni said the department is committed in equipping local entrepreneurs.
By Obegi Malack
Get more stories from our website: Sacco Review.
For comments and clarifications, write to: Saccoreview@
Kindly follow us via our social media pages on Facebook: Sacco Review Newspaper for timely updates
Stay ahead of the pack! Grab the latest Sacco Review newspaper!
