Nyahurur — Chief Cabinet Minister Musalia Mudavadi has called on Kenyans to embrace a savings culture to increase wealth and sustain economic development.
Together with Cooperatives & Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Development CS Simon Chelugui, they said the savings volume accumulated by individuals, enterprises, and governments plays a crucial role in achieving sustainable national economic growth.
The duo added a need to encourage Kenyans regardless of their economic class to take up savings culture, especially long-term, which will support investment for economic growth in the country, resulting in higher productivity.
Mudavadi noted that the power of cooperatives is so strong and that many economies, even in developed countries, are a result of the foundations of cooperatives, giving the example of Denmark, which has a very strong cooperative movement.
He supported the call by President William Ruto for Kenyans to focus on agriculture in order to address issues of food insecurity and also reduce the high cost of living.
On his part, CS Chelugui underscored the importance of shifting from social protection to social security, saying this will enable members to safeguard their future.
He commended the management of Tower Sacco for registering remarkable growth since it was established, making it stand out among the few very successful and best-performing Saccos in the country.
Tower Sacco has a capital asset base of Sh20 billion, a Sh16.4 billion loan book, and another Sh15 billion in deposits, which the CS described as a great achievement.
A section of leaders from Nyandarua County called on the government to intervene and help salvage Ol-Kalou, which is on the verge of collapse due to outstanding loans that are yet to be serviced.
Senator John Methu and Women's Rep. Faith Gitau said the Ol-Kalou dairy plays an integral role in supporting hundreds of farmers who have invested in the dairy cooperative but are now looking forward to its closure or being auctioned to offset the loans.
However, Chelugui said there is an MOU between the government and the Cooperative Bank (financiers of the dairy) to look into how they will review and renegotiate the terms and the loan payment period to help the dairy society continue to operate. - Kna
