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SACCO INDUSTRY SACCO INDUSTRY WATCH
Mr Geoffrey Njang'ombe and Mr Ngumbo Njoroge during the interview income let us charge expenditure
according to section 15 of the Income
be at SASRA because SASRA is just a within seven days they will debate on Tax Act.
regulator. In the long run, it has to work the same. We are supposed to come up
closely with the Central Bank because with the co-operative implementation On 25th March 2019, the o?ce
ultimately the SACCOs should join the committee. of the Commissioner for Co-
national payment system. operative Development signed an
The policy attempts to tackle the Memorandum of Understanding
What is the government’s policy on challenges and one of the current (MOU) with the Ethics and Anti
technologies such as blockchain in challenges with co-operatives Corruption Commission (EACC) to
the co-operative movement? is governance. It has deliberate curb corruption. What progress has
interventions to do with the been made and which assets, if any,
The government endorses and governance, such as legislate on who have been recovered?
advocates for such systems. SACCOs can be a leader in the co-operative.
globally have cooperation through We also want to come up with clear The main objective is not to audit
World Council of Credit Unions sanctions where you can enforce the the lifestyles of co-operative leaders
(WOCCU). We don’t have to do anything code of conduct. We are also going and we may not even have the legal
from what other SACCOs are doing to have uniform standards for all co- backing for lifestyle audits. It’s a
in other countries. So, we always go operatives. question of improving the governance
by best practices. If it is doing well in in our Co-operatives. This will be
other countries, we go for it. Even the Recent changes to the taxation regime through training and coming up
central liquidity facility is doing well in may see SACCOs paying more in terms with deterrent measures and how
a tiny country like Malawi. They have a of taxes. What is the ministry doing to prevent corruption. This is done
very good system that is working well, to protect SACCOs from excessive through an anti-corruption policy
so the government fully supports if it taxation that may cripple the sector? which can be improved and we also
in the best interest of SACCOs. prepare anti-corruption prevention
This is a thorny issue. Of course, the materials which we disseminate to
Speak on the progress in the government wants to collect more co-operatives. We have sensitization
enactment of the proposed National tax but it should do it fairly not in an forums and EACC can help us capacity
Co-operative Development Policy oppressive manner. When people are build our officers who are involved in
and the regulations for Speci?ed Non- oppressed, they may find ways of investigation and inquiries.
Deposit Taking SACCOs evading. We will form a joint effort
and every year we have been making In 2019, the president called for
Both policies were passed by the petitions to Treasury on areas we feel the establishment of the SACCO
Cabinet and after that, the regulations co-operatives should not be taxed, Societies Fraud Investigation Unit to
for Non-Specified Taking SACCOs will especially on areas of mutual trading be domiciled at the SACCO Societies
be gazetted so that they can be tabled between a member and his Society. Regulatory Authority. What will be the
in parliament. The policy is also before structure and mandate of the unit?
the Attorney General to be gazetted I advise Societies where we have
then passed to parliament where issues which may appear to be like The Unit has been established
with officers seconded from the
Department of Criminal Investigation.
This unit will take a similar form to one
of the Banking Unit. This means it’s
a unit to help us prevent and detect
fraud.
The issue of investigation of fraud lies
with the police this is to help us detect
fraud and avoid it. With the common
trend, we can detect emerging fraud
such as cybercrime. We will work with
them so that they can understand co-
operatives. Otherwise, their work is
not to come and police co-operatives.
They also deal with the issue of
prevention.
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