The Cooperative sector is eagerly waiting for the Senate and Parliament to fast-rack processing of the Draft Cooperatives Bill 2024, for onward transmission to the desk of President Dr William Samoei Ruto for his signature.
The Cooperatives Bill 2024, which was passed by the National Assembly with amendments on December 3rd 2024, has been struck between Parliament and the Senate, after it underwent the first second and final reading done on November 12th 2025 in parliament. The Senate then passed the Bill with amendments and referred the document back to the National Assembly for consideration on February 12th 2025.
Parliament must concur with Senate amendments and then send the Bill to the President. However, the huge resources that the industry possesses, appears to have has also attracted huge vested interests, all keen to control or delay this process.
The Bill was tabled in the Senate by Majority Senate Leader Aaron Cheruiyot, Senator for Kericho County.
According to the Senate Bill tracker, this draft that has published two years ago, was passed by the Senate with amendments and referred to the National Assembly for consideration. However, these Senate amendments were rejected by the National Assembly on Tuesday, 14th April, 2026. The Bill has thus been referred to a Mediation Committee.
“There is alot of goodwill from the co-operatives sector about the need for legal and regulatory reforms. At present, we have numerous forums that are disseminating information, most of which are not well-researched, doing the rounds. This industry is huge, with a lot of resources, and therefore attracting the attention of vested interests and groups,” said Joyce Waceke, Mentor SACCO Chief Executive Officer.
She adds that for the Bill to become law, what is needed is wider public participation and alot of understanding and harmony in the industry as well as consultations.
Cooperatives Bill 2024 not yet passed two years after its publication
As 2026 draws to a close and with no inter-SACCO lending facility in place following troubles at Kenya Union of Savings and Credit Cooperatives(KUSCCO), financial cooperatives are still locked out of the National Payments System.
“Inter-Sacco lending is a long overdue issue. But once structures are put in place and a central pool identified, SACCOs will be able to access the facility that offers loans at lower rates that what banks are offering and hence make more profits,” said Isedorius Agolla, Chairman of Kenya Association of Front Office Service Activity(KAFOSA), Coast Region.
The New Cooperatives Bill, if enacted into law, seeks to establish a Deposit Guarantee Fund, to compensate members in the event that a financially-troubled SACCO goes under and is liquidated.
“The New Cooperatives Bill that is coming up seeks to address some of the legal challenges and regulatory gaps that allowed losses to occur, as in the case of KUSCOO- which took place over a long period of time without anyone noticing or taking any action. We need a regulatory framework to govern the operations of Secondary Cooperative Societies such as KUSCCO,” said Mrs Ndegwa.
She added that the Cooperative is currently enjoying goodwill from the Government.
“The new bill will repeal the current Cooperatives Act Cap 490, enabling SACCOs into the National Payments System for instance. This has enormous benefits for SACCOs in terms of service delivery to members such as clearing of cheques without going through a bank,” said Mrs Ndegwa.
The Cooperatives Sector has huge assets and membership and thus any substantial changes is bound to have huge ramifications on the entire economy.
Available data shows that all Cooperative Societies, including SACCOs as well as Housing, Coffee, Dairy and Others, hold over KSh 1.5 trillion in deposits and assets.
While a sessional paper drawn to trigger a repeal of the outdated Cooperatives Act, Cap 490 has already been published, the document is still stuck in parliament awaiting debate and approval.
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