The cooperative movement turned out in force this month as the sector celebrated the 104th International Day of Cooperatives, locally known as Ushirika Day, under the global theme “Co-operatives for a Peaceful World.”

National celebrations were held at Uhuru Park in Nairobi on Saturday, July 4, with county events staged across the country.

Deputy President Kithure Kindiki represented President William Ruto at the main event, using the platform to reaffirm government plans to sign the new Cooperatives Bill into law within a month. He said the reforms would tighten governance, strengthen transparency and push the sector toward digital reporting.

Cabinet Secretary for Co-operatives and MSMEs Development, Wycliffe Oparanya, presided over the evening gala dinner where the presentation of the Ushirika Day awards, recognising Saccos and cooperative societies that excelled in governance, financial management, innovation and member service over the past year.

The awards are the product of a rigorous, months-long adjudication exercise run on behalf of the National Ushirika Council and the Cooperative Alliance of Kenya (CAK) by the Co-op Consultancy and Bancassurance Intermediary Limited (CCBI), a subsidiary of Co-operative Bank.

CCBI has overseen the process for several years, refining its methodology based on feedback from participating societies. Saccos are first sorted into tiers by total assets, from very large deposit-taking institutions with assets above Ksh 30 billion down to small societies with under Ksh 2 billion, and then scored against comprehensive assessment toolkits built around pillars such as institutional capital, credit management, risk controls, technology adoption and member management.

Rankings within each category are determined by weighted averages across these parameters, ensuring a small agriculture-based Sacco is judged against comparable peers rather than against a banking-sector giant.

This year’s list, drawn from the National Ushirika Council’s official trophies schedule, spanned close to 300 individual awards across dozens of categories, with three positions recognised in most classes: 98 first-place awards, 98 second-place awards and 94 third-place finishes, for a grand total of 290 trophies handed out nationwide.

Setyon Sacco stole the show winning the trophy for the country’s best performing Society. Kenya National Police DT Sacco also emerged as the standout performer, retaining its status as the country’s top-performing deposit-taking Sacco among large, employer-based institutions. It collected six accolades in total, topping the capitalisation and deposits management categories while placing second in member and credit management and third in the most-improved category, a continuation of the strong run that saw it also named the best-managed Sacco countrywide in an earlier edition of the awards.

Several societies matched the day’s high mark of seven trophies apiece. Bingwa Sacco again dominated the agriculture-based category, building on a run of consecutive wins attributed to its focus on farmer and small-business financing. Dimkes DT Sacco swept the community-based Sacco category, while Harambee DT Sacco and Ushuru Sacco Society led among large employer-based institutions. Co-operative Bank’s regulated non-deposit-taking Sacco, Finnlemm Sacco Society, Shofco Sacco Society and Tabasamu Sacco Society rounded out the seven-trophy tier, each topping their respective asset bands.

Beyond the Sacco sub-sector, marketing and dairy cooperatives also had a strong showing, with Githunguri Dairy Farmers Co-operative, Meru Central Dairy Cooperative Union and Kenya Co-operative Coffee Exporters sharing top honours in the marketing societies category. In housing and investment, Umoja Wendani Housing Co-operative and Airports Housing Co-operative Society each picked up four trophies.

For CAK, the awards double as a governance benchmark, incentivizing societies to strengthen internal controls, embrace digital reporting and manage risk more prudently, all themes echoed by Kindiki’s call for reform-driven, technology-enabled cooperatives capable of anchoring Kenya’s Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda.

Here is the full list of awards: https://co-opnews.com/top-saccos-excellence-award-2026-co-op-news-august-edition/#flipbook-df_6466/1/