The Sacco Societies Regulatory Authority (SASRA) has suspended the CEO and Board Chairperson of Kenya’s largest Sacco, Mwalimu National Sacco, over alleged fraud.
According to Sasra, they are investigating fraud amounting to billions of shillings with some media houses reporting that the two suspended officials were key in the eating of a Ksh. 52 Billion Mwalimu National Sacco asset base.
After fraud allegations, members started selling their shares at a throw-away price from January this year. Most of the members have been announcing their aim to sell Sacco’s shares in Facebook groups over the panic that it was going under.
In some cases, members complained of poor services from the Sacco’s management raising alarm on SACCO’s state.
” Mwalimu Sacco I wrote a letter for you to stop my deductions this month and yet you deducted my money, why play cat and rat games, pissed off by this Sacco of yours” Shared a member in one of the Facebook groups in late May this year.
“Selling my 26k share capital at 19k” Posted another member
” I used to defend this Sacco much but ile day nilienda my nearest branch,, with my 22k shares nikaambiwa Sina dividends!!! Hadi wa leo naumia! ” Lamented another member
” Ppl are leavinMwalimumu Sacco cz Ince they joined Spire Bank loans have attracted very high interest. ppl are buying off Sacco loans for cooperative Bank & other bank loans ” Shared a member in the Mwalimu Sacco group
” The Sacco Board of directors should come up with a special loan of 13% interest per annum to buy off loans borrowed from commercial banks by Sacco members. The said commercial banks reap big from our members. Simple calculation: One pays interest of 20,000/- per month.1000 such loanees pay 20 m per month thus 240 million per year. Let this profit go to our Sacco ” Share a member
” How long does it take to exit the Sacco, ” Asked a member
The shell of a bank they purchased in the name of Spire isn’t helping things. MNS withdrew its money from the cooperative bank of Kenya and took it into Spire bank.
Since then, it has been down a slippery slope, deteriorating.
It is alleged that in 2014, all stakeholders in the cooperative sector-coop bank, Kuscco, sasra, ministry of cooperatives were all initially against the move to buy Spire bank but later changed tune and kept mum as the transaction took place.
The directors and CEO of Mwalimu who made this unfortunate and unforgivable decision are known and now Kenyans are demanding they take personal responsibility for this mess.
There are demands that a lifestyle audit is conducted for them and a dramatic change in lifestyle and asset base before and after 2014 will be seen.
The bylaws of the Sacco and the cooperative societies act expects directors to act like ordinary men of business in any decision they make on behalf of members. It remains to be seen if members interest was a priority here or something else.
Apart from that, there is a problem with corporate governance at Mwalimu Sacco that is being run like somebody’s toilet hence demands serious action on the same.
A few months ago, we exposed Wellington Otiende who is working as an auditor at the Teachers Service Commission (TSC). We also revealed how he managed to be elected as a chairman to the board of management of Mwalimu Sacco. We reported that out of the five members of the board, 4 are his tribemates, and how he has managed to use the board to loot Mwalimu Sacco.
