Cabinet Secretary for Cooperatives and MSMEs Simon Chelugui is proposing that Saccos be allowed to be clear their cheque books and not through commercial banks.

Speaking at Nkubu in Meru County during the Annual General meeting for YETU Sacco, Chelugui said Saccos in the country were suffering a lot of expenses when clearing their cheque books through commercial banks and they can clear the same through the Sacco movement.

CS Chelugui also said there should be no law hindering managers in managing Saccos due to age limit as far as a person is able to lead well, noting that those who are after age limit want to oppress cooperative members.

“Members should be allowed to decide their leaders without considering age limit,” he said.

He added that the government intends to come up with deposited guarantee funds through a credit guarantee scheme which is aimed at cushioning Sacco members so that incase of any management failure, members do not lose their money.

“The government will also operate a shared services facility to enable Saccos to participate in the National payment system and also strengthen the commodity cooperatives to upscale value addition and further enhance food security.”

At the same time, he indicated that the government will also work with regulated Saccos in disbursement of Hustler funds starting next month.

Agriculture CS Mithika linturi who was also in attendance urged farmers especially from Meru County to register themselves with the government program so that they can be assisted with subsidized fertilizer and other farm inputs noting that the government aims at supporting production and not consumption.

YETU Sacco CEO Denis Mwiti Kirimi cited taxation to be the key challenging Saccos ccos citing punitive measures imposed by the government through KRA and appealed to the Cooperative CS to consider the issue.

YETU Sacco has an asset base of Ksh 5.7 billion becoming the second best Sacco in the country.

The Sacco has rolled out an ambitious growth strategy positioning itself as a reliable national Sacco offering affordable credit facilities and providing innovative savings accounts.

The Sacco has several branches in various counties with the recent branch being that of Kitengela which was opened early this year.