Teachers confront officials of blacklisted sacco during stormy meeting

Members of the blacklisted Isiolo Teachers Savings, Credit and Co-operative society held a stormy meeting where they differed on whether the interim management should quit office or not.

The sacco, whose front office savings account (Fosa) licence was withdrawn by Sacco Societies Regulatory Authority in 2015, had been under interim officials since 2014 and members wanted them to leave so as to pave way for fresh elections.

In 2014, the authority warned the public against depositing with the sacco, owing to its inability to meet statutory requirements and stopped it from offering banking hall services.

The sacco went under with about Sh100 million of members’ deposits and external debts following lending of unsecured loans to undeserving individuals.

This opened a floodgate for withdrawal of members. From about 900 in 2010, the membership dropped to 500 in 2014 and now stands at 165.

During an special general meeting at Wabera Primary School hall on Thursday, some members called for resignation of the officials. The officials took office in 2014 to serve on interim basis for six months pending fresh elections.

Discontented members led by Abdi Ibrahim, Golicha Guyo Karayu and Boniface Galgalo asked why the officials were still in office and no Annual General Meeting (AGM) has held since 2014. “We want you to quit office now so that we can conduct fresh elections. You have been illegally in office since 2014 and up to now we do not know how our lost money will be recovered,” said Mr Ibrahim.

Mr Karayu demanded the resignation of officials who had been interdicted by the Teachers Service Commission, saying they were not fit to hold public office.

The sacco’s interim chairman, Naftali Macharia, however said the demand cannot be met, citing absence of members from Merti and other parts of the county.