Page 36 - Issue 48_press_efile

POLICY AND REGULATIONS

REPRIEVE FOR SACCOS AS SIM BILL WITHDRAWN

By Richard Moracha The proposed SIMs Bill, according to
sector players, would have plunged the
Finally, the more than 15 million members of Savings sector into troubled waters and greatly
and Credit Co-operatives, SACCOs, in the country undermined the efforts to improve and
can rest easy following the withdrawal of a Bill that safeguard SACCO operations in the
sought to introduce a special autonomous category country.
of members known as Social Impact Members
(SIMs), a move SACCO players say would not only have changed fraud and bad loans. The proposed SIMs Bill, according to sector
the composition and governance of these financial institutions, players, would have plunged the sector into troubled waters
but one that would have also put members funds at risk. and greatly undermined the efforts to improve and safeguard
SACCO operations in the country.
The SACCO sector in Kenya is the largest in Africa, and according
to numbers provided by regulator SASRA, SACCOs in the country
have mobilized over KShs. 800 billion in domestic savings, and
boast an asset base of over KShs.1 trillion, employing over 2
million Kenyans both directly and indirectly.

This growth has not been entirely painless and for the past
several years there have been calls and efforts to streamline
and refine this sub-sector due to incidences of mismanagement,

34| SACCO Star Magazine