YVONNE'S TAKE: KUSCCO - The crime that lives on!

Now, I’ll get back to this in just a bit. But first, a story. My story is that of many Kenyans. Like many of you, I was educated on Sacco money. My mother took one cooperative loan after another to take us to school, clothe us, feed us—basically, to keep us alive.

Thereafter, it was a life of denying herself many luxuries to be able to make the payments, but even more frugality to increase her savings and shares. At a time when the big banks would not look at her twice, this is the story of many who join Saccos.

"Join a Sacco," they said. "You can borrow up to three times your savings," they said. "The repayment rates are fairer," they said. Until they met KUSCCO.

Back to that figure—Ksh.9.3 billion worth of fraud unearthed at what is essentially the Sacco of Saccos. Now, while that money may belong to member Saccos, it comes directly from those individual Sacco members who scrape every penny, work hard, or hustle, as we like to call it in this country. They deny themselves today to save for tomorrow, for their children. That is their money, and this will eventually have an impact on their lives.

The current conversation is highly technical—big words like Saccos are setting aside funds or making provisions for the losses. That they are spreading the provisions over a period of 10 years. There is even debate among accountants over which is the best IFRS standard to use—no offense to accountants, who do great work, by the way.

All of these big words aside, let us remember that this will translate into real losses for hundreds, if not thousands, of Kenyans.

To think that this happened under the eye of regulators like the Commissioner of Cooperatives, the Ministry of Cooperative Development, as well as the main regulator, the Sacco Societies Regulatory Authority (SASRA). Where were all these organizations that are meant to safeguard the hard-earned money of Kenyans?

Now, we are told that Kuscco didn’t fall under the ambit of SASRA and that there were attempts at amending the law. So, who dropped the ball? How did a Sacco like KUSCCO end up with assets of Ksh.5.2 billion against liabilities of over Ksh.17 billion? It is literally insolvent!

That’s not all—there have been several Saccos in the country that have clearly been mismanaged, bringing losses to their members. Kenyans whose complaints bounce from one agency to another. Between the Commissioner of Cooperatives, SASRA, and even the ministry, no one can tell you where your money is.

Now with KUSCCO, the one line that you get from all of them is that they have sent the file to the DCI for further investigation. Investigations? Well and good. But who will compensate those Kenyans who have lost money?

My message is to the Commissioner of Cooperatives, who has lately been reaffirming his confidence in the growth and resilience of the Sacco sector, even in the wake of the fall of KUSCCO.

Kind sir, that resilience is the hard work of Kenyans. Every day. Do not take it for granted. It is nothing to smile about. Even as the former KUSCCO directors are taken to task by the DCI, the leadership of SASRA, the Commissioner of Cooperatives, and the minister of cooperative development and SMEs all owe us answers.

How did this happen on your watch? How and why did you fail to safeguard Kenyans’ hard-earned money?