The government is set to unveil a new police unit to deal with increasing cases of fraud linked to senior officials at the heart of the helm of Savings and credit cooperatives (SACCO).
According to Industry, Trade and Co-operatives CS Peter Munya, the new special crimes investigations platform is set to be unveiled in a month’s time.
The outfit expected to reign in rogue sacco officials who mismanage members’ assets and will involve collaboration between the Saccos Regulatory Authority (Sasra), the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) and the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC).
CS Munya indicated that this would help in tackling theft and fraud bedeviling the Saccos.
Saccos which have become a popular form of savings and credit provider have been infiltrated by unscrupulous individuals and rogue officials geared towards enriching themselves at the expense of customers.
"A memorandum of understanding activating collaboration between Sasra, DCI and EACC will facilitate prompt action on any criminal activities within saccos where errant leaders will be investigated, prosecuted and punished.
"This are bad eggs that must be destroyed. Sacco leaders across Kenya must report errant saccos to us to facilitate punitive action which will help restore the reputation of saccos," CS Munya warned.
Sasra’s is meant to reign over the deposit taking saccos, leaving thousands of savers at risk of fraud due to poor regulation of non-deposit taking entities.
The formulation of new measures set to be rolled out soon will shield member savings from fraudulent entities which fashion themselves as genuine investment vehicles.
