Saccos in the country registered an average growth of 10 percent in 2024 to hit a record Sh1.8 trillion in assets with members enjoying an average of 10 percent returns in form of dividends.
The Commissioner for Co-operatives Development David Obonyo said that currently, the Sacco loan book stands at over Sh1.1 trillion and the savings at over Sh1.2 trillion.
“The Sacco movement holds around 30 percent of Kenya’s savings and I want to assure all Kenyans who have savings in the Saccos that we have an elaborate legal framework, policy and guidelines that ensure that the funds are safe and secure,” assured Obonyo.
Speaking in Nairobi on Thursday when the Co-operative Alliance of Kenya (CAK) launched the pre-Ushirika day events, Obonyo said that as government, they have established the Sacco Societies Regulatory Authority (SASRA) which undertakes inspection and regulation of Saccos in the country to ensure that the institutions operate within the guidelines in efforts to guarantee the safety of members’ savings.
The Commissioner highlighted that in February 2025, Saccos in Nairobi had paid out over Sh35 billion to members in form of interest and dividends.
Obonyo said that for Saccos to be competitive, they need to embrace technology and as a Ministry, they have done a paper where they want to have a central liquidity and shared platform as part of the legal framework to enable the cooperatives to come together and share technology and lend money to each other.
Co-operative Alliance of Kenya (CAK) chairman Macloud Malonza said that as the Sacco movement, they have registered tremendous growth and they needed to advance to the next level and they were advocating for the new bill which would allow them to get into the payment system and start offering other services like issuing bankers’ cheques.
“We want to enhance our financial inclusivity where we can reach out to the marginalized in society which is in line with our theme for this year’s Ushirika Day celebration which is ‘Driving Inclusive and Sustainable Solutions for a Better World,” explained Malonza.
He said that they were investing a lot in ICT and research in efforts to know what the customers want which would enable them to compete with other players in the financial sector.
“We are also conducting capacity building for our Sacco leaders through the African Confederation of Cooperative Savings and Credit Associations (ACCOSCA). Some of our Saccos are growing big and we forecast that in the next three years, we will have some with assets of over Sh100 billion and therefore we need well-trained managers to oversee the institutions,” said Malonza.
CAK Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Daniel Marube said that the United Nations (UN) proclaimed 2025 as the year of cooperatives which is an achievement for the movement where they have been recognized for their ability to positively change people’s social and economic well-being.
Marube said that the cooperative movement has played a crucial role in food production, financial inclusion, provision of decent and affordable housing, providing clean water and improving the environment.
“In preparation for the Ushirika Day this year, we will conduct several activities including a blood donation drive, a tree-planting exercise, exhibitions among other activities,” said Marube.
He said they were in the final stages of negotiations to have an allocation of 100 acres in the Ngong forest where they intended to create a forest for cooperatives by planting mainly fruit trees.
“Once we are allocated this parcel of land, we will fence it as the cooperative sector and subdivide it among our Saccos so that they can go in there and grow the trees,” said Marube.
By Joseph Ng’ang’a
