Any cooperative that fails to immediately file its returns from the last three years will be deregistered, Cabinet Secretary for the Ministry of Cooperatives and MSMEs Development Services, Wycliffe Oparanya, has announced.
Oparanya has said that all SACCOs and cooperatives that have not submitted their returns in the last three years should do so right away or risk being thrown out.
While addressing the Cooperative Leadership Forum on Thursday, Oparanya said his ministry has observed that some SACCOs have failed to file their returns on time, contrary to the Cooperative Societies Act.
According to the Co-operative Societies Act's Section 25(10), societies must submit their annual returns and a certified true copy of their audited balance sheet and accounts every 12 months.
“I hereby direct all cooperative societies, including unions, national cooperative organisations, and apex cooperatives, to file their annual returns no later than the 30th of April each year,” Oparanya said.
According to the CS, these returns need to contain a properly authorised copy of the audited financial statements for the relevant year, along with the most recent information on all elected officials and the CEO, including their complete names, physical addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses.
Failure to meet these demands, cooperatives will be deregistered, and according to Oparanya, once a cooperative is kicked out, it will cease to exist completely.
“Let me be clear: any cooperative society that has failed to file its returns for the last three years and within the stipulated timelines will be struck off from the Cooperative Register and will cease to exist as a corporate entity,” Oparanya asserted.
Section 25(11) of the Co-operative Societies Act states that committee members automatically lose their seats at the following general meeting if the co-operative society's accounts are not audited within the allotted time.
Additionally, unless the Kenya Revenue Authority Commissioner is convinced that the failure was caused by uncontrollable circumstances, they will not be eligible for reelection for three years.
Oparanya ordered, “This directive takes immediate effect, and all cooperative entities are expected to comply fully.”
The changes are a raft of measures being done to protect the sector following the Ksh12 billion KUSCCO scandal that left several SACCOs dealing with huge losses.
