- The Cabinet secretary for cooperatives and macro small and medium development Simon Chelugui noted that doing so will help Saccos to increase their accessibility and visibility.
- The CS observed that Cooperatives must adopt and embrace ICT in order to improve their working systems for proper management and service delivery.
Savings and credit cooperative societies across the country have been challenged to embrace innovation and technology.
The Cabinet secretary for cooperatives and macro small and medium development Simon Chelugui noted that doing so will help Saccos to increase their accessibility and visibility.
The CS observed that Cooperatives must adopt and embrace ICT in order to improve their working systems for proper management and service delivery.
"Take advantage of ICT to simplify transactions so that clients can access your services wherever they are and work closely with other financial institutions," the CS said.
This, according to the CS will ultimately help the cooperatives to continue playing their rightful role in achieving poverty reduction, employment creation and social integration
The CS was represented by the director of the cooperative John Mwingala during the official opening of a new Afresa Sacco office in Kisumu.
In his speech, the CS promised sweeping reforms in the sector once the cooperative bill and other support bills now in parliament are passed into law.
Afresa Sacco boasts over 60000 memberships in Kisumu and targets low-income earners but also has products earmarked for those in formal employment.
The Sacco co-founder and chairman Berry Odhiambo appealed to the government to utilize Saccos' great network across the country to ensure available funding models such as the Hustler Fund, and Youth and Women funds can reach a wider target.
The CS noted that the cooperative sector is a key socio-economic development enabler in Kenya.
He said the sector is empowering people from the poorest segments of the population who possess the requisite skills but have no capital to participate in the economy.
"Cooperatives play an important role in aggregation, primary processing, transport, marketing, savings mobilization and financial inclusion," he said.
Cooperatives, according to the cabinet Secretary have made great milestones since independence.
"The sector has achieved great milestones since independence when the founders of the Nation through Sessional Paper number 10 on “African Socialism and Its Application to Development” chose cooperatives as a vehicle to indigenize the economy," he added.
"Since then cooperative footprints have spread to all sectors of the economy," the CS said.
He noted that the cooperative sector has become an indispensable enabler in achieving socioeconomic development for sustainable economic growth and societal equity.
This significance, he said, is reflected by the government's recognition of cooperatives as pivotal instruments in advancing the Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA).
He thanked the founders of AFRESA Sacco for taking the initiative to bring its members together to mobilize resources that empower them in their socioeconomic development.
He advised the board of directors of Saccos to ensure that they implement best practices in corporate governance by putting in place mechanisms that allow members to participate in all decision-making processes.
This he noted can be done through the annual general meetings where members elect their leaders, approve the annual budgets and chart the way forward for implementation by the board.
He also encouraged members of Saccos to actively contribute their share capital and monthly deposits to build a strong foundation for the Saccos and provide adequate resources for lending to members.
"Empower members through capacity building and sensitization programs. Further, enable members to take loans for their personal development and repay promptly," he said.
He at the same time asked the board directors of the Saccos to promote the welfare of their members and engage the communities in their activities.
The CS also appealed to Saccos to promote transparency and accountability in the stewardship of the Sacco resources.
He reiterated the government's commitment to revitalizing the country’s productive value chains by supporting initiatives geared towards increased production, aggregation and market access.
This, he noted will enhance food security, improve earnings as well and achieve a favourable balance of payments through import substitution, increased exports and thereby strengthening our local currency.
Chelugui said that the government has carried out reforms in the cooperative sector with a view to strengthening the institutional framework that oversights cooperative operations.
The new framework according to the minister will facilitate aggregation of agricultural produce for both staple, cash crops, livestock, dairy and emerging and fast-growing ventures in fisheries & aqua-culture, cereals, horticulture, poultry, beekeeping, avocados, macadamia nuts, cashew nuts and mining among others.
Some of these reforms in the pipeline include the Cooperative Bill that has now been submitted to parliament.
The bill aims to strengthen governance in cooperatives.
The coffee Bill that is in the second reading at the Senate will reintroduce the Coffee Board of Kenya and Coffee Research Institute as independent farmer institutions.
Chelugui noted that restructuring the Nairobi Coffee Exchange will allow cooperative unions to participate on the trading floor thus eliminating middlemen and improving farmer incomes.
"We are keen to support the coffee sub-sector through the designation of New KPCU as a strategic handler of coffee and implementer of the Coffee Chery Advance Revolving Fund," he said.
He further revealed that the ministry is keen on the Implementation of prudential guidelines and regulation of Saccos with deposits of over Sh 100 million, diaspora and digitalSaccos through SASRA ;
The bill will also see the Operationalization of Sacco Central and Shared Services; and the Support of dairy farmers through the designation of New KCC as a buyer of last resort and Strategic Food Reserve.
" We are all aware that businesses including cooperatives require finance to operate. Cooperatives in Kenya are financed through either internal or external sources," he added.
" I encourage the boards to mobilize funds from members as a main source of finance which is a low-risk source of funding and to build sustainable cooperative enterprises, it is incumbent upon leaders to embrace innovative reforms and come up with strategies that will pave the way for cooperatives to continue trailblazing in their economic trajectory," he said.