• Rotich plans to decentralise all services in the spirit of devolution.
•The governor has moved Twenty Co-operative Officers to the wards to bolster the cooperative movement in the county.
Image: BY MATHEWS NDANYI
Elgeyo Marakwet Governor Wisley Rotich has started re-deploying staff from headquarters in Iten to wards so they are closer to people to deliver services.
Rotich plans to decentralise all county services in the spirit of devolution.
The governor has moved 20 cooperative officers to wards to bolster the cooperative movement in the county.
Rotich said the move conformed to his campaign promises to ensure the county served residents at the grassroots level.
“I have ordered the re-deployment of co-operative officers to the wards. They are expected to train the public on cooperative matters and help enlist more people to the movements,” Rotich said.
He said the move would enable farmers and other groups to be ready to access the anticipated Hustlers Fund and also benefit from other national and county programmes.
“The officers are also expected to revive all dormant and non-performing cooperatives because the societies will be vital in mobilising our people for development activities,” he said.
He said this was part of his agenda to strengthen the cooperative movement in the county as well as implementing his campaign vision on Huduma Mashinani (Services at the Grassroots) programme.
The governor also posted three auditors to the cooperative department to ensure that operations are effective and transparent
Under the Huduma Mashinani programme, the governor plans to decentralise services so officers from all departments are posted to the subcounty and ward offices with the aim of taking services close to the public.
The county boss called for auditing of all Saccos in the county and ordered the new officers to train members of dormant and new Saccos.
"All dormant Saccos should be audited. We also need a report to know the reason why they are not performing. All their accounts should be audited and elections of office holders done," Rotich said.
The governor said a poor saving culture and failure by members to pay back their loans impede growth of saccos in the county.
"People shy away from investing in Saccos because of our poor saving culture. At the same time, the rate of defaulting loan repayment is high coupled with corrupt officials killing the spirit of co-operatives,” he said.
The county has 75 active cooperatives, another 50 are dormant and 26 are newly registered.
Residents welcomed the governor's action, terming the move a lifeline towards the revival of several saccos that had collapsed.
Paul Kipkalya, who is a manager at Elgeyo Marakwet Youth Bunge Sacco, linked collapse of several Saccos to mismanagement.
"We need to train Sacco officials on financial management. Members should be patient, too. With the governor's intervention, the cooperative movement will thrive once again," he said.
William Cheptum from Kapchemutwa Farmers Cooperative said many people have failed to join cooperatives due to lack of knowledge.
"When we get officers at the ward level, it will be easier to educate more people and register them into cooperatives. We hope to benefit from the national government's Hustler's Fund when it is rolled out,"Cheptum said.
(Edited by V. Graham)