Saccos that have lost money in KUSCCO; the millions they had invested

A number of Saccos that had invested millions of money at the Kenya Union of Savings & Credit Co-operatives (KUSCCO) have publicly acknowledged their potential losses. These Saccos have made partial and full provisions to cover for the losses emanating from the mega theft and misappropriation of billions of money in KUSCCO.

Among these Saccos is the Qona Sacco which was formerly known as Safaricom Sacco. This Sacco has had invested Sh134.7 million in KUSCCO. Out of this investment, Sh104 million was in interest-earning deposits while Sh30.7 million was in shares.

“The Sacco had invested Sh134.7 million in KUSCCO which unfortunately was declared insolvent and as a result there is no guarantee of recovering the money,” Qona Sacco states in its annual 2024 report.

Other Saccos that have been left counting losses include Nyati Sacco, Sheria Sacco and Mhasibu Sacco. Mhasibu Sacco has lost Sh408 million that it had invested in KUSCCO. Nyati had invested Sh90 million while Sheria had invested Sh126.8 million. The three Saccos have only made partial provisions to cover for their losses.

247 Saccos ordered to cut dividends over multi-billion Kuscco fraud

Kimisitu Sacco, Balozi Sacco, Kenpipe Sacco, and Stima Sacco are also sailing in the same boat. Balozi had invested Sh437.55 million, Kimisitu had invested Sh353.95 million while Kenpipe had invested Sh149.18 million. These three Saccos have made full provisions to cover the loss of their investment in KUSCCO.

The multi-billion KUSCCO fraud that is estimated at Sh13.3 billion was unearthed following an audit that was conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). The audit exposed theft, cooking of financial books, and conflict of interest that resulted in the mega loss of money. The audit revealed that KUSCCO was left with liabilities of Sh17.7 billion against assets of Sh5.2 billion following the fraud.

Last week, the State Department for Co-operatives directed up to 247 Saccos to cut their dividends over expected losses. In addition to cutting dividends, the Saccos have also been directed to write off or set aside funds to cover the expected heavy losses.

“The provisions will roughly run for between one and five years based on the individual Sacco, the amounts involved and their financial muscle,” David Obonyo, the Commissioner for Co-operatives Development told a local newspaper.

The department has however kept a tight lid on the 247 Saccos with money in KUSCCO to prevent potential collapse that could emanate from members going for a withdrawal run out of fear.