Corruption, Nepotism Rock Ukulima Sacco

Ukulima Sacco members have petitioned their elected delegates to put the top management on task to arrest the run-away sleaze in the Sacco. In a letter to the elected delegates, the members said it was their responsibility to ensure the vice has been brought to an end since they risk losing their savings. They said the Sacco board of directors and senior managers were fleecing the Sacco dry by serving their selfish interests. They said the delegates were elected to serve members by representing their interests and that is why they should not adopt a hands-off approach when the Sacco is in a sorry state. In the major scandal is that Ukulima Housing, which was formed with an intention of being used to make the Sacco money circulate, is running dry.

Richard Nyaanga

It is said without following the required procedures, Housing Cooperative took a loan of Sh500m from Co-operative Bank with Ukulima Sacco as the sole guarantor. From the start, the Sacco has continued to repay the loan with interest because Housing Co-operative was unable to service it. The loan was for the purchase of land at Lukenya for Housing Cooperative to sell to its members but the deal flopped. The Housing Cooperative was unable to generate income from the land it had purchased using millions of shillings in a deal that is suspected to be a fraud. The land was estimated at about Sh340 million. The cost per an eighth of a hectare size goes for over Sh1 million, which proved expensive to buyers.

The Lukenya project and the one along Kangundo road sunk with the Sacco’s money. For example, the Lukenya land had only one buyer making the Housing Co-operative to continue to draw its operational expenses from Ukulima Sacco much to the chagrin of members. The members decried that the Sacco has left them with a heavy burden on loans products like processing charges, top-up charges, interest on loans and low dividends rates while the society’s funds are being misused by a few. They claim the balance on loan cash after the purchase of land and how was it accounted for is clouded under mystery. It is alleged over Sh140 million was shared among the board members supervisory committee and a few senior managers.https://googleads.g.doubleclick.net/pagead/ads?client=ca-pub-6590527285926439&output=html&h=280&adk=850297620&adf=658967483&pi=t.aa~a.3307841482~i.7~rp.4&w=384&fwrn=7&fwrnh=100&lmt=1616672790&num_ads=1&rafmt=1&armr=3&sem=mc&pwprc=5400005224&psa=1&ad_type=text_image&format=384×280&url=https%3A%2F%2Fweeklycitizen.co.ke%2Fcorruption-nepotism-rock-ukulima-sacco%2F&flash=0&fwr=0&pra=3&rh=320&rw=384&rpe=1&resp_fmts=3&sfro=1&wgl=1&fa=27&dt=1616672790559&bpp=2&bdt=795&idt=-M&shv=r20210322&cbv=r20190131&ptt=9&saldr=aa&abxe=1&cookie=ID%3Db3ec77490efcd668-228c9c0728a700dd%3AT%3D1616239041%3ART%3D1616239041%3AS%3DALNI_MZRjT3QbsQ7CPMH1qMTc4lkvXyhLw&prev_fmts=0x0%2C414x345&nras=3&correlator=4705246423244&frm=20&pv=1&ga_vid=2072499879.1616672790&ga_sid=1616672790&ga_hid=2107370086&ga_fc=0&u_tz=180&u_his=12&u_java=0&u_h=896&u_w=414&u_ah=896&u_aw=414&u_cd=32&u_nplug=0&u_nmime=0&adx=15&ady=2746&biw=414&bih=719&scr_x=0&scr_y=0&eid=21068084%2C21069000%2C44738185%2C44739387&oid=3&pvsid=2294777452713883&pem=57&ref=https%3A%2F%2Fweeklycitizen.co.ke%2F&rx=0&eae=0&fc=1408&brdim=0%2C0%2C0%2C0%2C414%2C0%2C414%2C896%2C414%2C719&vis=1&rsz=%7C%7Cs%7C&abl=NS&fu=8320&bc=31&ifi=3&uci=a!3&btvi=1&fsb=1&xpc=Y9HGvxa378&p=https%3A//weeklycitizen.co.ke&dtd=4

Questions are being asked how Ukulima Sacco is going to recover the amount used in repaying Housing Cooperative loan with interest and its operating costs yet these are two difference entities. The Housing Co-operative purported to take a Sh300 million loan from Cooperative Bank to pay the Ukulima Sacco but interestingly, the Sacco again continued to repay the loan given it was the main guarantor. It is not known which prudence of financial management is being practiced here because to date, the Sacco is still paying the loan. The members question why the two separate entities are being managed by a composition of same board of directors and supervisory committee.

According to them, this had been resolved and properly advised during Housing Cooperative  annual delegates meeting and Sacco Societies Regulatory Authority respectively, which was never implemented to date. They now wonder which interests is being protected and served here. It is claimed the board of directors and senior managers of Ukulima Sacco have continued to overspend above allocated limits on seminars and workshops including foreign trips for themselves hence no benefits to society come along with these. The members said no explanation has supported the amount that was approved for the supplementary budget on lifts in 2017. Earlier, the Sacco was led by individuals of integrity, who had members interest at heart and totally responsible to the prudence accountability management.

Those days, it is claimed, the Sacco had chairman of the management committee and board of directors of substance that led the society to greater heights unlike this days were they have units with self centered individuals, who are milking the it dry. The board of directors has five retired members out of nine and that these are the people who are always at the headquarters. Individuals who come from minority membership like National Social Security with less than 20 members, Kenya Dairy Board with less than 25 members, others ministries, scattered members and the newly formed small groups for individual interest branches have been sidelined. All other board and supervisory members are controlled by national chairman with his executive members and their stand is what carries the day.https://googleads.g.doubleclick.net/pagead/ads?client=ca-pub-6590527285926439&output=html&h=280&adk=850297620&adf=1592642670&pi=t.aa~a.3307841482~i.13~rp.4&w=384&fwrn=7&fwrnh=100&lmt=1616672790&num_ads=1&rafmt=1&armr=3&sem=mc&pwprc=5400005224&psa=1&ad_type=text_image&format=384×280&url=https%3A%2F%2Fweeklycitizen.co.ke%2Fcorruption-nepotism-rock-ukulima-sacco%2F&flash=0&fwr=0&pra=3&rh=320&rw=384&rpe=1&resp_fmts=3&sfro=1&wgl=1&fa=27&dt=1616672790559&bpp=2&bdt=795&idt=-M&shv=r20210322&cbv=r20190131&ptt=9&saldr=aa&abxe=1&cookie=ID%3Db3ec77490efcd668-228c9c0728a700dd%3AT%3D1616239041%3ART%3D1616239041%3AS%3DALNI_MZRjT3QbsQ7CPMH1qMTc4lkvXyhLw&prev_fmts=0x0%2C414x345%2C384x280&nras=4&correlator=4705246423244&frm=20&pv=1&ga_vid=2072499879.1616672790&ga_sid=1616672790&ga_hid=2107370086&ga_fc=0&u_tz=180&u_his=12&u_java=0&u_h=896&u_w=414&u_ah=896&u_aw=414&u_cd=32&u_nplug=0&u_nmime=0&adx=15&ady=4076&biw=414&bih=719&scr_x=0&scr_y=0&eid=21068084%2C21069000%2C44738185%2C44739387&oid=3&pvsid=2294777452713883&pem=57&ref=https%3A%2F%2Fweeklycitizen.co.ke%2F&rx=0&eae=0&fc=1408&brdim=0%2C0%2C0%2C0%2C414%2C0%2C414%2C896%2C414%2C719&vis=1&rsz=%7C%7Cs%7C&abl=NS&fu=8320&bc=31&ifi=4&uci=a!4&btvi=2&fsb=1&xpc=OrJSzTFdTD&p=https%3A//weeklycitizen.co.ke&dtd=9

The society has continued to invest heavily in information and communication technology but to date there is no value for members’ funds. Mobile banking services is in crisis. The members have continued to complain of high transaction costs at the Sacco. Money has of late been stolen through cyber crime under the watch of the ICT team as the system allows one to over withdraw below minimum balance and it allows a person to access advance when one’s salary stopped working for even for three months.

The members have always complained about the questionable integrity of chief executive officer Richard Nyaanga who failed the interview during his recruitment coming number four but was given the position through the backdoor to serve the interest of board members. The members have told the delegates to demand the whereabouts of Ukulima Towers plot’s title deed or if it has been used to secure a loan elsewhere. The original title deed went missing since 2005. Ukulima board CEO and human resource manager have continued to practice nepotism of highest order without fear. Recruitment and promotions are based kinship.