Government-based Deposit Taking-SACCOs control the majority of assets and deposits in the Sacco sub sector. The big players in this category include Stima Sacco with assets worth Sh 32.3 billion, Kenya Police( Sh 28.9 billion) and Harambee Sacco( Sh 26.3 billion)
These financial co-operatives, which derive the bulk of their membership from Ministries, State agencies, Corporations and County Governments, controlled 37.67 percent of the industry’s entire balance sheet of Sh 495.25 billion in 2018. They also held 38.37 percent of all deposits held by the sub-sector.
Government Based deposit-taking SACCOs numbered 35 at the end of 2018 with total assets worth Sh 186.57 billion and total deposits of Sh 131.18 billion.
The 43 Teachers’- based DT-Saccos, which were 43 and with assets of Sh 177.92 billion and members’ deposits of Sh 119.10 billion. The third position is held by Farmer-based DT-Saccos which were 50 and held assets worth Sh 51.44 billion and deposits of Sh 34.57 billion.
While Government based DT-SACCOs constitutes only 20.11percent of all the DT-Saccos in Kenya, their total assets portfolio at 37.67 percent in 2018 was three times more than that of the Farmers’ based DT-SACCOs which was at only 10.39 percent.
The Report concludes that those DT-SACCOs whose fields of memberships are principally tied to the government and government agencies such as ministries, state corporations, commissions, and county government remain the greatest movers in terms of total assets and deposits.
“Consequently, it can be deduced that the government and its agencies are the critical most important singular employer that drives the deposit-taking SACCO segment in Kenya,” said John Mwaka, Chief Executive Officer, Sacco Societies Regulatory Authority.
The Government-based DT-Saccos draw their original membership from government ministries and departments, State Corporations, Public Universities, and Colleges. The majority have their headquarters in Nairobi. Others have their head offices in towns or counties where the state corporation, Public University or Colleges are based.
In terms of individual sizes, Mwalimu National has the largest balance sheet size worth Sh 45.2 billion followed by Stima SACCO ( Sh 32.3 billion), Kenya Police SACCO ( Sh 28.9 billion), Harambee SACCO ( Sh 26.3 billion), Afya SACCO ( Sh 17.6 billion) and Metropolitan National SACCO ( Sh 13.6 billion)
