President Dr William Ruto’s administration has announced plans to create a new Ministry for Co-operatives and Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) as part of his 21-member Cabinet.
The move has elicited excitement and high expectations within Kenya’s co-operatives sector, which lost its position in the cabinet during the Uhuru Kenyatta administration, which reduced it to a state department.
The first Minister for Co-operatives-then lumped together with social services, created in 1966 and headed by the late Ronald Ngala during President Jomo Kenyatta’s administration.
Other Cabinet Ministers that followed Ngala included Kamwithi Munyi, Peter Njeru Ndwiga, Joseph Nyagah, and Peter Munya, who headed the Ministry when it was scaled down to a state Department by President Uhuru Kenyatta’s administration.
The new Ministry created by President William Ruto’s administration will have its in-tray full to the brim.
On the list of unfinished business is a new co-operatives policy document that has been at the planning stages for months. This document is expected to jump-start the process of amending the Co-operatives Act to reflect the new status of the co-operatives business as a devolved function.
While the functions of until now defunct Co-operatives Ministry were devolved to the County Governments, these fundamental changes are yet to be anchored in law. Cabinet Ministers in charge of Co-operatives at the County level, as well as County Co-operative Offices, are yet to have their roles clearly defined, and issues of policy will have to be sorted by the new administration.
The new Ministry for Co-operatives and Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) must also find a solution for non-remittances of Sacco dues, especially from country governments, state agencies, and public universities. Although the Kenya Union of Savings and Credit Co-operative Organizations (KUSCCO) and other groups like the Co-operative Alliance of Kenya (CAK) have raised their voices on this and other matters, their advocacy roles are weak due to a lack of financial support to enable them articulate interests of the co-operatives sector. Why Saccos cannot list at the bourse?
