Alarm bells have gone off following reports of some Saccos that attempted to block some of their members from leaving by refusing to release deposits despite receiving sufficient notices.
This has been revealed by a list of complaints that were filed at the Competition Authority of Kenya for the year ended June 2023.
According to some of the complaints that appeared in a local business newspaper, some Saccos received 60-day notice to withdraw deposits. However, they failed to honour their end of the agreement.
In one of the complaints to CAK that was highlighted by the daily, a member was only able to get their deposits from the KICO Sacco after the CAK intervened with specific orders for the funds to be released.
“The complainant sought withdrawal from the sacco membership as per the bylaws of the society but KICO declined to refund his deposits. The complainant was refunded and the case was closed,” the Competition Authority of Kenya stated.
In yet another incident, a Sacco member accused the Kencom Sacco of failing to honour the 60-day deposit withdrawal notice.
“The complainant, a member of the Kencom Sacco Society Limited, officially sought withdrawal of membership and gave Kencom a 60-day notice as per the by-laws of the society but the Sacco refused to refund his deposits,” the CAK stated.
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The CAK further noted that it had also referred cases against Fountain Enterprises Programme (FEP) Sacco and the Post Mail Sacco to the Commissioner of Cooperatives. Additionally, CAK stated that other cases against more Saccos were being investigated.