April every year, which is four months after the end of each financial year, is the statutory deadline for all duly registered Savings and Credit Cooperative Societies to hold their Annual General Meetings.
Section 27 of the Cooperative Act, 2022 designates the general meetings supreme during which members have the right to attend and be involved in their participation in all decisions of the society registered in.
A must-be agenda in the agenda is the democratic election of Sacco leaders, as one of the key principles of the Sacco movement in Kenya. Other tenets relate to equity, resource pooling, equity, and the good of all members including their holistic development and well-being.
Most Saccos in their tradition hold such AGMs way ahead of the set timelines. Therefore most of the Saccos must have held elections by now. In every election, there is a new crop of leaders joining the serving one by virtue of transition.
It is important therefore for this season's crop of leaders to make a difference and refine the direction of the movement. This is in view of current and emerging Sacco sector demands such as fraud, members' dwindling earnings, regulatory environment as well as contextual challenges that befall different societies.
There seems to be some leeway for Sacco leaders not to receive keen scrutiny by members as in the case of other conventional corporate board titans.
Bereft of this, leaders have every opportunity to set the progressive agenda within their Saccos that can have a national and global positive impact. These can be shared and peer-to-peer engaged on through varied national fora regulatory and Saccos often convene.
A look at the roll of registered Saccos by the regulators, there is a great dichotomy in their number of members consequently, their financial capacity and asset portfolio. No matter the size the basic canons of good governance, strategic thinking, and progress of the movement must be demanded by members to their elected leaders.
A lot has to be relooked by the current generation of leaders. The Sacco movement in Kenya has due to its history law requirement, a tendency of maintaining its old tradition of cut-out agendas in board meetings, to some extent distanced members with fewer accountability questions to their leadership.
This must be while maintaining the long-held but working tradition must be furthered to take the cooperative movement to the next shift of thinking. Let us all in the sector not be comfortable with our African continent lead but stir new waters globally.
Corporate communication practitioner and secretary Comhigh Sacco Ltd.
