The Sacco Societies Regulatory Authority (SASRA) has announced that it revoked the licenses of two Saccos for the period starting from January 1, 2024, to December 31, 2024.
SASRA said there were 176 Deposit-Taking (DT) SACCOs licensed by the Authority at the beginning of the year 2023.
However, two (2) DT-Saccos failed to maintain their deposit-taking licenses resulting in the revocation and non-renewal of the same, thus leaving 174-DT-SACCOs in operation as of the close of the year 2023.
The SACCOs whose deposit-taking licenses were not renewed and subsequently revoked during the year 2023 were M/S Jacaranda Sacco Society in Kiambu and Kenya Midlands SACCO Society in Bomet.
Why the Saccos Licenses Were Revoked
Jacaranda Sacco Society’s license was revoked due to its failure to apply for license renewal, cessation of business activities, and inability to meet the prescribed prudential ratios.
Meanwhile, Kenya Midlands Sacco Society Ltd had its license revoked for not applying for renewal and failing to meet the prescribed prudential ratios.
Additional reasons for the revocation include the inability to fulfill financial obligations, particularly those owed to its members.
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Members of the public were thus warned to desist from undertaking any of the regulated Sacco businesses with any of the Saccos whose licenses were revoked.
Number of Registered Societies
At the same time, SASRA said that there were 183 Non- Withdrawable Taking Saccos (NWDT) at the beginning of the year 2023.
However, two (2) of the NWDT-Saccos namely M/S Njiwa Sacco Society Ltd and M/S Jogoo Sacco Society Ltd successfully applied to the Authority to change their business model to deposit-taking Saccos business.
This left 181-NWDT-Saccos in operation in the Country and whose authorizations were successfully renewed by the Authority for continued operation effective January 2024.
In accordance with Reg. 4 of the Regulations 2020 one (1) NWDT-Sacco, M/S Digital Media Regulated NWDT-Sacco Society Ltd is authorized as a digital Sacco Society.
Furthermore, three (3) NWDT Sacco namely M/S Stoke – UK, M/S Kenya – USA, and M/S Grand Granite Diaspora Societies Ltd are authorized as diaspora-based Saccos.
The total membership among the 357-regulated SACCOs increased by 6.57% to 6.84 million in 2023 from 6.42 million reported in 2022.
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Renewal of DT and NWDT Saccos
The DT business is supervised pursuant to the Act as read with the Regulations 2010 which requires Saccos to have and maintain on an annual basis a valid deposit-taking license.
Once issued, an annual deposit-taking license of a Sacco expires on 31st December of the year of issuance and must be subsequently renewed, with Saccos duly licensed to undertake deposit-taking business being referred to as the DT Saccos.
An application for renewal of a deposit-taking license must however be submitted to the Authority within three (3) months prior to the expiry.
The specified non-deposit-taking Sacco business on the other hand is supervised pursuant to the Act as read with the Regulations 2020 which requires Saccos to have and maintain a valid annual authorization certificate, which expires on 31st December of the year of issuance and must be renewed upon expiry.
An application for renewal of authorization must however be submitted to the Authority within 60 days prior to the expiry date as provided in Reg. 9 of the Regulations 2020, with Saccos authorized to undertake the specified non-deposit-taking business being referred to as the NWDT Saccos.
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