No respite in battle for troubled Moi University Sacco's assets

Members of the troubled Moi University Sacco on Friday threatened to move to court on Monday to halt the planned sale of the Musco towers without their involvement.

This follows the decision by the liquidators to place a public notice in one of the local dailies calling for interested buyers to purchase the building.

Stanley Kirop, chairman of the interim committee also accused the liquidators of ignoring the peaceful resolution process and attempting to illegally sell off their assets by October 31.

Since July 18, there has been a conflict resolution process spearheaded by intergovernmental relations technical committee headed by Prof Karega Mutahi to resolve the impasse.

“On September 26, committee wrote a letter recommending to the Trade and Cooperative CS Peter Munya to reinstate the license and return the assets to the members. We are shocked that these liquidators now hurriedly want to dispose of our assets through an advert,” added Mr Kirop.

He urged CS Munya to utilize section 92/93 of Cooperative Act (2019) to reinstate the Musco license to the members.

FOUL PLAY

Irate members carried placards and twigs to air their frustrations as they staged a demonstration in Eldoret town to oppose the planned auction of Musco Towers.

The members also demanded forensic audit of all financial activities of the Sacco claiming that funds might have been embezzled.

“It would not make any sense that innocent sacco members are denied access to their savings yet few individuals ransack the sacco with impunity. We demand that all former sacco officers be held accountable for the funds under their custody when they were in office,” said Jack Willis Abok, a member of the Sacco’s interim committee and the secretary-general of the Universities Academic Staff Union (Uasu) Moi university chapter.

Dr David Chemei, a sacco member said that the poor members must first be rescued in revival plans.

“We have heard that the banks are being rescued. That they plan to use our assets to settle debts used to build this structure but we want this stopped and all members given first priority,” added the disgruntled member.

DISGRUNTLED MEMBERS

Rose Koima, another member noted that those members who retired in 2016 had not been able to get their shares from the sacco.

“We are advised to save wisely but it is sad that we are going home empty-handed after retirement yet some few individuals want to frustrate us. Some members are now languishing in poverty and are not even able to pay school fees for their children,” she added.

Mid-last year, Moi University Sacco was among several deposit-taking co-operatives that survived closure after the Sacco Societies Regulatory Authority (Sasra) extended permits for a period of six months to allow them comply with capital adequacy and corporate governance rules.

Sasra rules require that saccos maintain a minimum 15 per cent liquidity ratio and file a report every month, which details the liquid assets and balance of short-term liabilities.

They claimed they spent Sh400 million through savings and a bank loan to put up the structure in Eldoret’s central business district and would not accept the planned auction of the property.

In 2018, the government revoked the licence of Moi University Sacco and later placed it under liquidation.

A gazette notice published last year by then Commissioner for Co-operative Development Mary Mungai cancelled the registration of the deposit-taking sacco and appointed two liquidators to take custody for a year.