Saccos have been urged to safeguard their members’ data in line with the Data Protection Act, 2019. SACCOs were encouraged to practice data protection by design, by ensuring necessary systems, documents, procedures, and policies are in place.
KUSCCO Group Managing Director, George Ototo noted that when dealing with sensitive personal data, the law requires one to take extra measures to protect it. “This has big implications for SACCOs since they control detailed information about members including biometric data, property details, marital status, health status among other parameters mentioned in the Act. Thus the threshold for protecting personal data for SACCOs is high,” he said. Further, he urged leaders to take an in-depth look at the Act and adhere to it, to avoid hefty fines and loss of members’ money. He also implored leaders to ensure that staff members are sensitized on the same.
Mr. Ototo also reported that there was the need for remittance of funds owed to SACCOs by Private and State entities, as well as County Governments amounting to Sh4.3 billion, excluding interest. “We appealed for remittance of outstanding check-offs owed to SACCOs and so far we have seen positive results with Chuna SACCO payment of Sh275.9 Million owed by the University of Nairobi. Egerton SACCO was also paid Sh5.3 million by Kisii University and Sh306 million by Egerton University by December, 2020, excluding interest and penalties. We recommend that the offending entities reach an amicable settlement plan.”
He was speaking during the union annual delegates meeting recently.
Also present during the meeting was KUSCCO National Chairman, George Magutu who reported that there was positive growth in the Union, despite challenges occasioned by the pandemic. “The shareholders’ funds increased to Sh2.55 billion from Sh2.32 billion in 2019, a growth of 10 percent. The rise was due to successful shares drives across all the regions. The Union’s assets also grew to Sh19.81 billion from Sh16.63 billion in 2019, marking a growth of 19.1 percent. The Union’s combined loan book stood at Sh10.49 billion in 2020 relative to Sh8.67 billion the previous year,” he said.
