Harambee Co-operative Savings & Credit Society is deeply embroiled in several crippling multi-billion shillings corruption scandals that have seen close to 17,000 members quit the organization for other Saccos in the last two years to save their life savings.
At the heart of the scandal is a cartel within the Sacco who behave with total impunity. The cartel led by the board Chairman Macloud Malonza and his CEO George Onchiri has turned the institution into a personal cash cow at the expense of members and employees. It is estimated that in the last two years alone, the Sacco lost billions of shillings in unexplained investments.
The Sacco is saddled in ever-mounting debts owed to two leading commercial banks, the Co-operative and Kenya Commercial bank. The Sacco allegedly owes billion to the two financial institutions, according to sources at the Sacco. The CEO who was poached from mobile communications giant Safaricom to clean up the rot that has bedevilled the Sacco for a long time seems to have miserably failed in his efforts. He was supposed to help turn its fortunes around, he is much worse than previous and even current mafias at the Sacco. The cartel at Harambee Sacco has managed to recruit him, he is now part of the rot.
The Godfather or Don of the whole business is the Chairman who has quietly acquired billions of shillings in cash and properties during his limitless tenure at the Sacco. His properties are spread in prime locations of Kenya’s major cities, from Nairobi, Mombasa, Nakuru, and Kisumu to Eldoret.
Some of the organizations that have allegedly been compromised to look aside are the Sacco Societies Regulatory Authority (SASRA), the Kenya Union of Cooperatives Organizations (KUSCCO), and the Directorate of Cooperatives in the ministry including the Office of the Nairobi City County Director of Cooperatives
Sources within the Sacco told The Weekly Vision that the Chairman and his CEO plus a select few board members have set their sights on the huge chunk of prime land currently owned by the Sacco. The pieces of the targeted land are spread across the country and the reasons why they are targeted are still unknown. The land is worth billions of shillings at the prevailing market prices. The targeted properties are 12 acres in Kisumu, 10 acres in Siaya, and hundreds of acres in Mavoko County and Nairobi City County all worth tens of billions of shillings.
The CEO once conceded that when he took over, Harambee Sacco was in chaos saying that it will take decades to clean the entire system up, depending on the cooperation from the board.
WE FEAR FOR OUR LIVES
‘’ We fear for our lives, a source told us. “Harambee Sacco is a Chopping Board, a chopping board in the sense that it is dangerous to speak out against the ills here” Many people who failed to toe the line, have faced serious problems in the past. The worst-hit areas are the Procurements, tenders, Contractual deals, Supplies, Lands and Construction among others.
Some of the organizations that have allegedly been compromised to look aside are the Sacco Societies Regulatory Authority (SASRA), the Kenya Union of Cooperatives Organizations (KUSCCO), and the Directorate of Cooperatives in the ministry including the Office of the Nairobi City County Director of Cooperatives.
There are also emerging massive cases of impersonations mostly as servicemen who are still on faraway missions’, their signatures are forged. Even the Harambee Sacco’s Benevolent Fund has fallen victim to rampant theft; members who sadly lost their lives have not been spared from the wild and reckless multi-billion shillings lootings.
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