The Sacco Societies Regulatory Authority (Sasra) has warned the public against some services being undertaken by Urithi Sacco.
The warning, which was issued through a public notice, indicated that members of the public who opt to partake in Front Office Service Activity (Fosa) services being offered by Urithi Sacco will be doing so at their own risk. “Members of the public are further warned and put on notice that any person who undertakes deposit-taking Sacco business or transacts such deposit-taking business with an unlicensed person, institution or entity, shall be doing so at his/her own risk and peril,” said Sasra’s acting chief executive John Mwaka in the notice.
These services savings and deposit accounts, offer Automated Teller Machine (ATM) services, and mobile money business. However, Urithi has come out to deny that it has been offering Fosa services to its customers. Urithi was established three years ago and has offices in Nairobi, Nakuru, Gilgil, Mombasa and Eldoret. It has 10,000 members.
Urithi Sacco has been claiming to offer its investors interest rates of up to 24 per cent. To register and join the sacco, members are asked to pay sh. 1,000 and buy a minimum of 2 shares at sh. 7,000 each, after which they get a share certificate within 7 days.
The advisory comes in the wake of allegations that another popular sacco in rural Kenya Good Life Sacco had defrauded investors at least Sh. 500 million by promising to more than triple their money overnight.
Strikingly, the advisory on Urithi comes hot on the heels of the announcement by the sacco that it was undertaking a Sh. 800 million construction project. Apparently, the sacco will be constructing 740 housing units after receiving the money from Unaitas and will be targeting students at the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology.
