U & Me Housing Cooperative Limited has launched new products aimed at members of the public it says have been left out of mortgage schemes.
The Cooperative rolled out the products for members across the country after a two-week sensitisation tour of the Rift Valley, Western and Nyanza regions.
Speaking during a members’ forum in Kisumu, Chief Executive Officer Julius Odera said the Nairobi-based cooperative is encouraging members to invest in housing cooperatives to realise their dreams.
“Investing in a house or property for you or your family can generate income and realise your dreams today and in the future,” Mr Odera said.
He said the cooperative has about 7,500 members countrywide, including close to 800 in Kisumu and its environs, with an asset base of Sh1.3 billion.
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Mr Odera said Nyanza was lagging behind in cooperative culture, not for lack of potential but because of a weak saving culture, which the cooperative is now working to change.
“We have decided to have products that encourage our people to save, including junior savers, where a culture of saving can be inculcated from a young age. An 11-year-old can open an account and start saving towards their dream home through their parents,” he said.
The cooperative allows members to save as little as Sh50 a day towards home ownership.
“Homeownership is not a preserve for those who are employed. Even a mama mboga can own a home through the systems we have put in place,” Mr Odera said.
He dismissed the notion that housing is only for the rich or the employed. “For a long time, the imagination has been that housing is a preserve for either the rich or the employed. We want to demystify that by bringing on board everybody, from the mama mboga to the boda boda rider to the matatu driver,” he said.
He cited cases in Athi River, Kisumu and Embu where boda boda riders and small-scale traders have accessed loans through small daily, weekly and monthly savings to realise their housing plans.
Mr Odera outlined a plan to make the cooperative the biggest in Kenya within five years by recruiting 500,000 new members through existing members acting as marketers. He said the target is to grow the asset base to Sh35 billion in five years and Sh200 billion in 10 years.
“We are in Kisumu to engage our members and help them understand that we can only realise our dreams through investment in housing cooperatives, whether in homes or income-generating properties that secure our families today and in the future,” he said.
“Our vision is to make this institution the biggest cooperative in Kenya within the next five years. Our long-term ambition is to achieve an asset base of KSh200 billion within 10 years,” he added.
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Mr Odera urged Kenyans to join cooperatives and savings and credit cooperative societies (SACCOs), saying saving is the foundation of investment.
“The easiest way to mobilise savings is through a SACCO. You will not invest what you have not saved,” he said.
He said consistent savings, regardless of the amount, could eventually translate into meaningful investments, including home ownership.
Kisumu County Director for Cooperatives John Mingala said the county government supports any SACCO that helps citizens. He assured the public that cooperatives are a safe way to save, saying a common bond allows members to pool resources and access facilities that help them acquire assets.
By Fredrick Odiero
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