An affiliate meeting at the Kenya Union of Savings and Credit Cooperatives on Friday, December 13, laid the rot at the umbrella body that has threatened to cripple its operations and destabilise the state of SACCOs and cooperatives in Kenya.
A forensic report presented in the meeting that was attended by Cooperatives Cabinet Secretary Wycliffe Oparanya revealed widespread financial irregularities amounting to Ksh12 billion in financial losses within the national body.
Aside from the financial irregularities, the damning report also exposed cases of missing funds, unauthorised loans, and dubious investments, which were some of the issues flagged plaguing KUSCCO.
The report indicated that the members’ savings up in the billions were in serious danger of dissipating into thin air.
Senior officials at KUSCCO were also implicated in the report. According to the report, officials colluded to siphon funds through shell companies and fraudulent projects. This comes after the KUSCCO Board was fired after it emerged that Ksh6 billion were withdrawn from the union against the law.
“Our work provided evidence that supported the fact that there were widespread cases of mismanagement, asset misappropriation, and even, in some cases, diversion of the resources of the organisation,” informed one of the auditors.
The auditors’ findings painted a grim picture of KUSCCO’s financial health and were accompanied by tough recommendations to address the crisis.
These included immediate liquidation to prevent further losses and safeguard remaining assets, restructuring the management team to include independent professionals with no prior ties to the union, and implementing repayment plans for affected members to rebuild trust in cooperatives.
On his part, Oparanya sought to assure the union and SACCOs in the country of reforms as pressure mounts on the government to deliver on its promises to transform the cooperative sector.
Oparanya vowed to revive the scandal-hit union and bring all the parties involved to book, reiterating the government’s commitment in this regard. Oparanya expressed his disappointment but reassured Kenyans that decisive action would be taken.
“All this is an issue of bad governance. If you cannot deal with it legally, you deal with it politically,” Oparanya affirmed.
All eyes remain fixed on the government as affected citizens await its intervention in solving the catastrophe.
Source: kENYANS.CO.KE