This archive report was first published on 21 July 2020.
July 21, 2020 - The COVID-19 pandemic has left the co-operatives sector in a precarious state, with many Savings and Credit Co-operatives (Saccos) struggling to stay afloat.
Geoffrey Njang'ombe, the new Commissioner for Co-operatives, has taken over at a critical time, with the sector facing numerous challenges, including mismanagement, fraud, and bad loans.
Ms Mary Mungai, who served as the first lady Commissioner for Co-operative Development from December 7, 2016, to April last year, left behind several unfinished agendas that will require Njang'ombe's immediate attention.
One of the key tasks facing Njang'ombe is to speed up the digitization of the Co-operatives department's data to provide efficient services to Saccos. The department already has the Co-operative Information Management System, but it has only been piloted in Nairobi.
Njang'ombe will need to roll out this system countrywide to enable services such as filing of wealth declaration forms by Sacco bosses or submitting of annual returns and audited accounts to be done digitally.
Co-operatives see this as an opportunity to speed up quality of service delivery while cutting on costs in order to compete with other financial service providers.
He will also be expected to work closely with the Sacco Societies Regulatory Authority (Sasra) to establish a central liquidity facility for Saccos, which has remained a proposal for a while.
This is seen as a step closer to participating in the national payment system, especially that Saccos have now been allowed to access the credit reference bureaus (CRBs) records.
Kenya Union of Savings and Credit Co-operatives (Kuscco) has shown the way by forming the Central Finance Fund to help Saccos to borrow money when need arises.
Njang'ombe is also expected to steer the formation and implementation of the National Co-operative Development Policy and regulations for Specified non-deposit taking Saccos.
The policy is supposed to help tackle governance lapses in the co-operatives movement that have seen members lose money.
“The policy has deliberate interventions to do with the governance, such as to legislate on who can be a leader in the co-operative,” Njang'ombe was recently quoted in the press as saying.
