More saccos have opted to write off millions of investments at the Kenya Union of Savings and Credit Cooperatives (KUSCCO) following the financial fraud at the organization.
One of the saccos which opted to count its losses was the Kenya Medical Association (KMA) Sacco, which wrote off Ksh525 million in shares at the union.
In its financial year report ending December 2024, the Sacco explained that the move was necessary given that KUSCCO was declared insolvent.
“With KUSCCO Limited having been declared insolvent, the Board of Directors has considered and made a provision for impairment on the Sacco’s Special deposit of Ksh519,197,175 and the Jungu savings amount of Ksh6,796,307 held at KUSCCO Limited for a period of 10 to 15 years with a value of Ksh35,066,232 being impaired in the financial year 2024,” read the financial statement in part.
“An impairment provision of 1% of the Sacco’s other cash and cash equivalents as at 31st December 2024 has been made at a rate of 1% (Ksh16,560,644) of the entire other cash and cash equivalents value of Ksh1,656,064,389).”
Equally, Harambee Sacco wrote of its investments of Ksh184 million at KUSCCO.
Also Read: Breakdown of Ksh13 Billion Kuscco Heist That Nearly Collapsed Saccos in Kenya
Saccos, which had shares at the union, were financially hit after an audit by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) exposed financial malpractices by former directors who include former MD George Ototo, finance manager George Owino and the Chairman George Magutu.
In the audit, the former officials were exposed for cooking books to mislead their investors while at the same time engaging in questionable dealings such as unaccounted withdrawals from the accounts.
KUSCCO is estimated to have lost Ksh13.3 billion in the process.
Following the audit, the Ministry of Cooperatives stepped in to try and recover some of the money that had been lost by the investors. However, the government expressed fears over the possibility of recovering all the money.
As a step, Cooperatives CS Wycliffe Oparanya noted that the government would sell some of the assets of the union to pay off the investors.
"The small savers who had deposited with KUSCCO have already been refunded Ksh136 million. We are going to do this progressively as we realize some of the assets that we believe are unnecessary to be held by KUSCCO," he stated.
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