Kenyans Joined The Rest Of The World In Marking The 100th International Cooperative Day Better Known In Kenya As Ushirika Day On Saturday, July 2, 2022

Kenyans celebrated the 100th International Cooperative Day, also known as Ushirika Day in Kenya, on July 2, 2022, together with the rest of the globe and the purpose of the Day is to commemorate the successes of the cooperative movement each year.

Some of the 47 counties observed the Day, whose theme was Cooperative Build a better World. This event was presided over by President Uhuru Kenyatta at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre in Nairobi. The president said that in order to eliminate the threat posed by pyramid schemes in the country, legislative measures aimed at the operations of Savings and Credit Cooperatives (SACCOs) must be put into place.

President Kenyatta said that the regulations of the sector by the SACCO Societies Regulatory Authority (SASRA) have encouraged Kenyans to save more because they are assured of the safekeeping of their investments.

He noted that over the previous seven years, the SACCO sector has shown excellent membership growth, going from 3 million in 2014 to 5.5 million in 2021. He claimed that this rise reflects the industrys rising confidence in Saccos as savings and investment vehicles.

According to President Kenyatta, all people who used to participate in pyramid schemes have left since everyone was brought under SASRA. He continued and said that we now have trust that the Saccos are adequately controlled and that peoples investments are well cared for, and that this was the method to prevent the thieves from establishing SACCOs to steal money from members.

The loan portfolios of SACCOs increased from Sh228 billion in 2014 to Sh522 billion in 2021, while deposits increased from Sh206 billion to Sh474 billion within the same period, according to President Kenyatta.

President Kenyatta stated that SACCOs continue to play a significant role in the financing of the land and housing sub-sector, with a third of loans made to members going toward the purchase of land and home development.