Murang’a women set to mint millions from Sh50m hostel

With a contribution of Sh10 per member daily, Murang’a Women Sacco has established a modern hostel.

The building, with 101 rooms located near Murang’a University of Technology (MUT) is expected to generate a million shillings monthly when it is fully occupied by students.

Members of the sacco are drawn from the eight sub-counties and have been remitting their contributions for the past five years with each paying Sh300 per month.

Amica Sacco assisted the organisation to set up the building with a Sh50 million loan after Murang’a Governor Mwangi wa Iria donated a parcel of land to support their empowerment programmes.

Mary Wambui, a resident of Kiria ini, said she contributed Sh120,000 to the sacco after she got her family's consent.

Wambui said women came together and registered groups at the village level before they later joined the mother sacco.

The members, she said, have been supportive and assisted by their husbands to make daily or monthly contributions without delay.

“Murang’a has a history of investing in shares and I followed the same trend hoping in the end it will be successful for the family,” she said.

Sacco chairperson Mrs Rose Wathigo said the members have been active in support of the construction of the building in the last four years with hopes to book 400 students into the hostel.

The building, she said is not owned by all members of the sacco but they were in a process of selling shares to ensure the women will be enjoying dividends annually.

Speaking to The Standard, Ms Wathigo said members have not been paid but in the near future, they enjoy taking a good package home.

“The students started occupying the rooms  five months ago and we hope this year more will book,” said Wathigo.

Apart from the building, the sacco owns a bus that generates thousands of shillings monthly from leasing to members and Murang’a residents for transport.

The governor said he saw the need to empower women after they identified construction of a hostel as a priority.

The university has a capacity of over 10,000 students and there is need for more space to accommodate staff and students.

“To support members to make money, I donated land,” said Iria.