The bone of contention, sources say, is the fact that for the last two years, the management has been unable to disburse loans to members despite accumulating billions of shillings in savings from them. A source at the Sacco told The Weekly Vision that the lowest saver has Kshs. 150, 000 in savings, while the highest holds more than Kshs. 180 million.
Normal operations at the troubled Metropolitan National Savings and Credit Cooperative (Sacco) may grind to a halt soon. Thousands of Sacco members from across the country have threatened to “use all means at their disposal” to recover their money. Some of the members are now blaming the top hierarchy at the Sacco Societies Regulatory Authority (SASRA) for the mess facing Metropolitan Sacco.
The bone of contention, sources say, is the fact that for the last two years, the management has been unable to disburse loans to members despite accumulating billions of shillings in savings from them. A source at the Sacco told The Weekly Vision that the lowest saver has Kshs. 150, 000 in savings, while the highest holds more than Kshs. 180 million. The management has also come under scrutiny after declining to release accumulated savings to members who intend to withdraw their savings altogether after failing to secure loans.
Problems at Metropolitan Sacco have been compounded even further especially after the Sacco Societies Regulatory Authority (SASRA) top management expressed confidence in managers of the Sacco despite clear signs that there are serious managerial issues. ‘’Metropolitan National Sacco formerly known as Kiambu Teachers Sacco will get back on its feet despite allegations that it is on the verge of collapsing’’, one top SASRA official said. He had joined the then Chief Executive Officer Francis Ng’ang’a in calling on members to resume contributions as the organization was stable. Buoyed by approvals from SASRA’s top hierarchy, the management at the Sacco’s branches across the country got even worse. The situation at the branches countrywide including the headquarters in Nairobi, Kiambu, Limuru, Thika, Bungoma, Kajiado, Nakuru and Kisumu worsened by the day. Despite the recent intervention from The Criminal Investigation (DCI) which has already launched investigations against the current and former top managers and board of directors, the problem persists.
The Cabinet Secretary for Cooperatives asked the DCI to investigate the Sacco management following audit findings in which the Kshs. 9 billion could not be accounted for. The branches in Kisumu, Nakuru, Thika and Kiambu are alleged to have lost hundreds of millions of shillings through highly suspect transactions.
The Commissioner for cooperatives also confirmed that Metropolitan Sacco is facing serious financial problems without specifying since the matter was under investigation by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI. “DCI officers are investigating the management of Metropolitan Sacco over corruption, abuse of office, misappropriation and outright looting of the members’ savings. Those found culpable will face prosecutions and recoveries of looted funds made, but I cannot say more since the matter is still under investigation,” the commissioner said. When The Weekly Vision contacted Sacco’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Benson Mwangi, he declined to comment on the issues raised.
Confirming these developments the spokesman of the more than 1000 affected Sacco members Mr Wellington Mabwa said: “It is true, we are afraid that we may end up losing hundreds of millions of shillings we have saved with the Metropolitan Sacco over the decades.
Mr Mabwa a teacher by profession holds an account with Sacco’s Bungoma branch, he continued: “Our savings are at stake and risk being lost, we have demanded to know why the management has refused to grant us loans but we have received no answers.”
Mr Mabwa added that some of the members who applied to withdraw their savings and membership from the Sacco were denied the chance without any form of explanation given by the management. “I applied to quit the Sacco and have my accumulated savings back in January last year, but as I speak to you right now, they have refused to refund my money despite my desperate persistent follow-ups.
The management mentioned to me that I had guaranteed a fellow member to secure a loan in the past, but I do not know the person nor have I ever met him.
The said member allegedly failed to repay his loan; they now want me to repay it on his behalf.
Another member, John Kamau with an account in Nakuru said: “I saved Kshs. 40 million, I am afraid I may lose the money. He added, even with my savings the management has refused to grant me any loan be it emergency or development despite the many applications I have made.”
Mr Kamau is a senior civil servant, he continued: “I will be ruined if completely if I fail to get back my savings. My pension will not be sufficient to take care of me, my family and my dependents when I retire. It is money I have planned for over the years to invest in a profit-making business of my choice to keep me busy instead of just languishing at home once I retire. Mary Kariuki from Kiambu, Esther Wangare from Thika, Justus Mbugua from Limuru, Titus Kilonza from Nairobi and Lucy Kimani also of Nairobi confirmed that they have individual savings totalling Kshs. 100 million were experiencing the same problems and worried.
