Thursday, June 13, 2019
BONIFACE MULU
The Kitui County Poultry Traders Savings and Credit Cooperative Society Limited was registered on March 5, 2018. Making the announcement, the society’s chairman, Mutie Ngolo further said that the society operates with small traders drawn from the whole of the Kitui County.
“By April 2018, the society’s membership stood at 20 active members but by the end of this financial year, the membership has steadily grown to 40 active members,” the cooperator added. Ngolo was speaking to the members during their society’s 2nd annual general meeting held at the African Brotherhood Church (ABC) in Kitui Town on Friday, June 7, 2019.
The Agricultural Sector Development Support Programme (ASDSP) Kitui County Coordinator John Silman was the chief guest at the function. “Through your effort, we have 100 potential applicants waiting for vetting by the management committee to be full active members,” Ngolo told his fellow cooperators. “Apart from the above potential applicants, we urge all the active members to bring on board at least one new member to increase our membership to more than 500 members in future. With this, our society will be able to increase the loans given to the members and thus increase the society’s income,” he said.
He announced that the society’s share capital has grown from zero shillings in May 2018 to 171,200 shillings. Ngolo further said that the board will consider registering more members to increase the share capital in the coming year. “As I have mentioned, we already have 100 potential members who are in the vetting process by the management committee,” he said.
The cooperator said that the society’s current plan is to grow to share capital up to 500,000 shillings. And he added that the increased share capital will give the society the required financial boost to increase the amount of loans and create new loan products to the members while increasing the income streams. He announced that the members’ deposits grew over the year to 1,306,822 shillings. “Though it was a good attempt, the members are requested to save more in order improve our liquidity and give loans as they come,” the society leader added.
This will also enable us to revive our upper loan limit and reduce the waiting period for loans on demand, he further said. “Remember when you save more you will earn more interest on deposits. Therefore, I urge the members to increase their savings,” Ngolo said. The chairman announced that their total income was 270,580 shillings during the financial year under review. “And our net surplus was 78,802 shillings from the surplus we got. Our year’s plans is to increase our society’s income steams,” he added. “This year we are giving our members interest on 6 per cent of the deposit.
That is 78,409.32 shillings. The dividend percentage was too small , thus as the management committee we added it with the 6 per cent interest on deposit. But the following year , we have better income streams plans put in place hence we believe in realising a bigger percentage dividends,” the chairman added. Ngolo announced that this year’s loans disbursed to the members were 1,538,551.45 shillings. And he added that the normal loan, top up loan and emergency loan are their current products. “The loan terms and conditions are according to our loan policy,” the cooperator added. On education and training for the members, Ngolo said that in the 2018-2019 financial year the society was teething stage which needed member registration and internal arrangements. “In this year we are planning to hold three trainings on management committee in the areas of record keeping and governance,” he said.
The inadequate guarantee for loans and high cash collections time are some of the challenges the society faces, according to the chairman. “Kindly allow me to thank all members for the support they accorded to the society during this 2018-2019 financial year.
We would also thank the management committee, supervisory committee and marketing and loaning sub-committees for their leadership support and stewardship in this year’s achievements,” Ngolo said. He also thanked their bookkeeper, the Inter-County Kenya Consultants Limited, Kitui County Trade, Cooperatives and Investments Ministry, Kenya Union of Savings and Credit Cooperative Society Limited, Agricultural Sector Development Support Programme-Kitui County Office, Sacco Bank Kitui Branch and all other related institutions that supported them “ to achieve this success.” “Lastly as your chairman, I am sincerely humbled to see how this society has steadily grown from 20 to 40 active members under my stewardship.
Through the current progress in the society we have seen high demand by people to join us. I urge you for continued support by borrowing wisely, paying in time and avoiding introducing politics in the society. Thank you. Thank you once more and may God bless you,” Ngolo said. In his speech, the chief guest John Silman disclosed that the Agricultural Sector Development Support Programme started in Kitui County in 2012.
He added that the programme is in every county in Kenya. “It is a flagship programme by the government,” the agriculturalist added. Silman said that the programme is in every ward and every division and every district in the entire Kitui County that comprises a total of 16 districts.
The officer disclosed that they (the ASDSP) are dealing with 434 value chain organisations in Kitui County. “All the Kenya’s 47 county governors were asked by the government to sign memorandum of understandings (MOUs) with the ASDSP for the programme to be funded by the governor,” the ASDSP official said. And he thanked Kitui County Governor Charity Kaluki Ngilu for signing an MOU with the programme. “We the programme are so much happy with the governor’s move of supporting us.
We are happy because we work smoothly and successfully in the county because of her support to us,” Silman said. He said that there are many counties in the country where the governors have not signed MOUs with the programme to fund it. “I want to say that today is a very important day for the Kitui County Poultry Traders Savings and Credit Cooperative Society Limited,” the ASDSP official told the cooperators as he praised them for their good work as a society.
I thank the farmers who support the Kitui County Poultry Traders Sacco through providing them with their poultry to run their society, the expert said. Silman lauded the society members for choosing the poultry trade. “You have chosen an important enterprise because we don’t receive sufficient rains in our county,” the officer said. “Kitui County is one of the arid and semi-arid areas of Kenya. And as a result, we don’t get sufficient rains for farming in the county,” he said.
The expert said that following the rise of red meat consumption related human diseases, the poultry keeping has become very important and relevant saying that the white meat is now the one being preferred for consumption by the people for the good of the health. “We as a ministry have seen the aims that you have as a society,” he told the members as he highly thanked them for their cooperation and good working relationship as a society. “I am surprised if a team like this can talk of 1.3 million shillings. It is wonderful.
That money is a lot of money. You have a good sustainability as a society,” he said. He told them that networking with other cooperatives is good for a society to develop. Silman said that the education for the society members is very key in the sacco affairs. “The educated members are very important,” the official said, adding that a sacco transforms the community regarding the economic democracy. Silman said the commercial feeds for poultry are made with high energy for the good of the egg and meat poultry. And he added that the feeds are very expensive.
The agriculturalist said that the government is the custodian for all farmers. “It is your friend. It is your support. It is a person to encourage you to go forward,” he said. And on his part, the Kitui County Poultry Traders Savings and Credit Cooperative Society Limited Supervisory Committee Chairman, Charles Makau, said that they are happy to present their first 2018-2019 financial year report review and findings which cover both administrative and financial performance. “We urge our members to consider our recommendations in this report for purpose of business improvement- growth and future expansion.
Makau said the society’s core business is to offer savings and credit services to members. “We want to applause the sacco management committee for their commendable first attempt growth in the 2018-2019 financial year report,” the cooperator said. In addition, let me congratulate the current members for timely repayments of loans and good cooperation with all the committees that has led to no loans default, he further said. “Our supervisory committee has already advised the management committee to increase our income streams by widening our business in assets and ownership like mortgages as per our borrowing power,” Makau said.
The Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KNCCI) Kitui County Director Hilary Makola lauded the Kitui County Poultry Traders Sacco members for their cooperation and good working relationship that have enabled them to be so progressive as a society.
The KNCCI official talked about the Kibwezi-Kitui-Moyale highway where he said the highway will bring a lot of development to the Kitui County people. “The locals will benefit a lot in terms of development from the highway. It will be a 24-hour economy,” Makola said. The highway’s construction work by the Kenya government is going on very fast and positively. During the occasion, the members conducted some elections for their society where they elected Daniel Maluki Nganda as a management committee member. Nganda garnered a total of 17 votes. And a loan committee member Lydia Mwania scooped a total of 13 votes to get a win as a management committee member while Philip Saidi got 18 votes to be elected as a supervisory committee member.
The elections were presided over by an official from the Kitui County Trade, Cooperatives and Investments Ministry Mercy Wambua. The official thanked the members for their cooperation. Wambua talked about the budgets and loaning policies for saccos in Kenya. She said that a sacco cannot operate without a budget, adding that the budget must be known by the members. “The members are the final say in the society affairs,” the officer added. Wambua said the borrowing power for a sacco is approved by all the members with an enough quorum. “It is not approved by the management and supervisory committees alone,” she added. Wambua said that a person is not elected in the sacco leadership when she or him is not present during the society elections
