KUSCCO’s Ksh. 12 Billion Deficit Takes Centre Stage as CS Oparanya Faces Senate Panel
Cabinet Secretary for Co-operatives and MSMEs Development Wycliffe Oparanya appeared before the Senate Committee on Trade, Industrialization and Tourism on Wednesday to answer questions over the ongoing financial crisis at the Kenya Union of Savings and Credit Co-operatives (KUSCCO), revealing a staggering deficit of approximately Ksh. 12 billion.
Oparanya told senators that a forensic audit conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) between August and November 2024 uncovered deep-rooted financial mismanagement at the institution, which serves over 3,000 SACCOs nationwide and holds an estimated Ksh. 15.6 billion in mobilized deposits and savings.
“While the Union had been reporting profits, it was in fact incurring substantial losses,” Oparanya told the Kwale Senator-led committee, warning that the crisis had created a systemic risk to Kenya’s broader cooperative movement.
The audit findings were subsequently handed to the Inspector General of Police to support multi-agency investigations. The Ministry has since pursued a range of interventions, including debt recovery, operational restructuring and legal action against individuals adversely mentioned in the report.
So far, Ksh. 369 million has been recovered and refunded to affected SACCOs and members during the 2024–2025 financial period, through property auctions, vehicle sales and debt collection efforts. However, the CS conceded that formidable obstacles remain, among them delayed recoveries, active court cases and a Ksh. 1.2 billion tax dispute with the Kenya Revenue Authority.
Oparanya also updated the committee on Metropolitan SACCO Society Limited, where investigations at the Directorate of Criminal Investigations remain active alongside parallel judicial and administrative processes.
The CS outlined broad SACCO sector reforms aimed at strengthening governance, deepening financial inclusion and enhancing competitiveness across the cooperative movement.
Senators underscored the urgency of fast-tracking the Cooperative Bill currently before the Senate, noting that the proposed legislation would directly address many of the governance and oversight gaps exposed by the KUSCCO crisis. The committee called for the formation of a mediation committee to accelerate the bill’s enactment.
“We reaffirm our commitment to full recovery, accountability and transparency,” Oparanya assured the committee.
