The Council of the Institute of Credit Management (Kenya) through Certified Credit Professionals (CCP) and Mokaya Magembe Bernard on Wednesday, May 24 appealed to Senate to regulate credit professionals in the country.
According to the petitioners the Senate should enact legislation to regulate the credit profession.
Senate was asked to specifically provide among other relevant provisions the establishment and membership of the Institute of Certified Credit Professionals, functions and management of the institute, registration of credit professionals and issuance of annual practicing certificates, disciplinary provisions that include the establishment of a disciplinary committee, inquiry, and appeal mechanisms.
With the new regulations, petitioners argued that new regulations will establish a recognised legislated position of credit professionals in matters of credit and debt management.
They will also provide a qualified and well-regulated credit profession as well as provide accountable, reliable, and certified credit among other benefits.
The petitioners argued that all efforts put in place to address the issue of unlicensed credit professionals through the relevant authorities have not yielded any results.
"Credit professionals do not have a guiding statute that regulates the credit profession to ensure high professional standards among practitioners in the credit sector," the petitioners argued.
"This exposes consumers to several risks including breach of transparency, unconscionable conduct and loss of assets which can be mitigated by having certified credit professionals," read part of the petition.
CBK Regulations
On March 27, the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) approved 10 digital lenders to operate in the country. This was after passing the required tests.
CBK noted that a total of 32 lenders were licensed to operate as others were at different stages in the licensing process.
According to CBK, the accreditation was part of an operation to rid the country of rogue lenders that render gullible Kenyans broke.
Before the strict accreditation process, some lenders gave out quick loans at unregulated interest rates.
Others were accused of sharing customer data with third parties contrary to the law as well as debt shaming and threatening the borrowers.
