By Jackson Okoth
It is quite disheartening that after sacrificing all their life savings and pumping their hard earned cash into Moi University Sacco Society, culprits, swindlers and thieves who stole from this co-operative society have taken to the hills and walking freely, leaving a distraught, helpless and penniless members.
What is still not clear is why the Sacco Societies Regulatory Authority (SASRA) did little or nothing to bail out Moi University Sacco before things begun going south and the outfit become the financially insolvent institution that it is today.
Cases are rife of Saccos that have had financial difficulties but made internal management changes and sought for financial assistance from commercial banks and other credit institutions. The latest such organization is Metropolitan National Sacco that sought for financial assistance from Co-operative Bank of Kenya.
While Moi University Sacco had taken out a Sh 200 million loan from Co-operative Bank of Kenya to put up its ultra-modern head offices at Musco Towers in Eldoret, mismanagement within the society led to this debt remaining unpaid and ballooning to Sh 563 million at the time the society was hit with a liquidation order.
All the time, Moi University Sacco was placed on an interim license by SASRA, not attempts were made by the regulator or management of Moi University Sacco to solve the society’s financial woes. Musco Towers is presently valued at Sh 350 million and cannot therefore be sold to recover what the society owes Co-operative Bank of Kenya.
The management of Moi University, which owes the now defunct Moi University Sacco millions in non-remitted dues, is now under pressure from liquidators, to settle these pending bills.
It is the hope of members of Moi University Sacco, who have been languishing in misery and financial ruin that liquidators will be able to recover their dues from Moi University Management and that those found culpable be surcharged or prosecuted.
In the case of Moi University Sacco, the Commissioner for Co-operative Development and the Sacco Societies Regulatory Authority (SASRA) must have a rescue plan for the innocent Sacco members, who are said to have lost close to Sh 5 billion in life savings.
Ensuring that those responsible for this blatant theft and mismanagement are punished is the only way the regulators can restore confidence and trust in the Sacco industry. For instance, who failed to pay Sh 60 million to Moi University Sacco and why? What role has the Uasin Gishu County Government played to ensure members of troubled Moi University Sacco, who now have no fallback position, are cushioned?
What happens to those who came to Moi University Sacco as depositors and have now lost their cash due to lack of a deposit-protection fund for the industry?
There are fears that previous managers at Moi University Sacco may go unpunished now that the society’s deposit-taking license has been revoked. To make matters worse, swindled members of Moi University Sacco cannot sue an entity whose very existence is now not legally recognized. It is this exposure to crooks and swindlers that SASRA should be most concerned with.
The writer is an Editor with Sacco Review and Business Consultant.
