By Wasike Elvis
In its move to improve the livelihoods of its residents Uasin Gishu County Government has increased the County Co-operatives and Enterprise Development Fund to ensure more co-operatives benefit from the fund.
According to the CEC in charge of Co-operatives and Enterprise Fund, Esther Mutai , their aim is to loan up to Sh500, 000 to co-operatives across the county in the coming years.
“The Governor is passionate about the cooperatives movement, it is for this reason that his government continues to increase loans to cooperatives,” she said during a meeting with co-operative members from different co-operative societies in Eldoret recently.
“The County Government has been steadily increasing the money to the fund each year, in the last 5 years we loaned Sh130 million through County Co-operatives and Enterprise Development Fund to 59 co-operatives and in next 5 years we will increase the fund to Sh315 million,” she added.
She said as a way to manage and ensure the expansion of the Fund, the County Government will set up an audit team that will be checking the co-operatives’ books.
“This will help ensure that there is prompt repayment of loans and that loans are put into good use, I ask those who have not paid their loans to do so to enable the fund revolve and grow”, Mutai said. She urged residents to join co-operatives for them to benefit from affordable loans.
“We only give loans to people who are in co-operatives and not individuals at an interest rate of 5 per cent which is very low compared to any financial institution,” she noted.
She challenged co-operative officials to be effective and transparently deliver as per their mandates.
“The success of co-operatives depends on the manner in which officials run and manage funds. Many co-operatives collapsed due to lack of transparency among the officials”, she added.
