The Sacco Societies Regulatory Authority (SASRA) has urged members of the public to be cautious before putting their finances in a Savings and Credit Cooperative Organisation (SACCO).
SASRA, in a notice on Monday, August 25, raised an alarm over reports that some cooperative organisations were operating without a valid license, which, according to the Authority, contravenes the law.
In its advisory, the regulator called on Kenyans to first verify the licensing status of a SACCO through the SASRA website, which contains a published list of licensed credit cooperatives, before saving up.
"Operating a SACCO without a valid license is unlawful. Members of the public are encouraged to verify the licensing status of any SACCO Society from the published list before undertaking any financial transactions," SASRA warned.
While warning Kenyans against unlicensed SACCOs, SASRA also directed deposit-taking Cooperative Societies to apply for new licenses for the year 2026.
According to the Authority, the directive is in line with the SACCO Societies Act, which requires societies to apply for the renewal of the deposit-taking licenses at least 90 days before expiry.
"The Sacco Societies Regulatory Authority reminds all deposit-taking SACCOs that the renewal window for their 2026 deposit-taking licenses is open from now until 30th September 2025," the regulator announced.
"Applications must be submitted in line with the guidance note and the license application checklist available on our website: sasra.go.ke," the Authority added.
Following the directive, SASRA announced that the official list of licensed deposit-taking SACCOs for the year 2026 would be published on or before January 3, 2026.
Meanwhile, the latest notice comes months after SASRA revoked the licenses of 2 SACCOs due to non-compliance, citing failure by the two cooperative societies to apply for renewal of their licenses.
In a gazette notice released on January 31 this year, the Authority noted that the two societies also failed to meet members' obligations, thus contravening the Sacco Societies Act.
In the notice, SASRA further listed 177 SACCOs whose licenses were renewed and allowed to operate deposit-taking and non-deposit-taking businesses.
