| dc.description.abstract | Co-operatives have become an important sector in Kenya.
They now account for 40% of the country's GNP and 57% of its
Gross Farm Revenue. It also provides employment to a large
number of Kenyans (32,505). Savings and credit co-operatives
which are a relatively new development in Kenya having been
formed only slightly over two oecades ago, have now become
second only to agricultural co-operatives in importance. For
instance, they had' increased the nation's saving capacity
by 1.5 billion shillings by 1982. This was the total share
capital contributed by 600,000 members of these societies.
Despite their substantial contribution to the economic
development of the country, these co-operatives face a number
of management and other problems. The Kenya Union of
Savings and Credit Co-operatives (KUSCCO) was formed in 1973
to help promote their growth and development. One way of
doing this was through provision of common services to them
such as co-operative education, book-keeping, supply of
stationery and risk management (insurance).
A well managed and financially stable KUSCCO can play a
very important role in ensuring that savings and credit
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co-operatives are well managed. This is an essential service
in a sec~or where every member of a society who may not be
well equipped with managerial knowledge and skills is nevertheless
expected to participate in its management even though not
on a day to day basis.
KUSCCP has however not b~en performing its duties efficiently
since its formation making it extremely difficult for it to
fulfil its obligations to the member-s , Thus, this study
provides mor@ understanding of and discusses some suggestions
for solving the problems facing the organi'7.ation.
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The study was done through a sample survey conducted
using three sample groups. The non-members and members of
KUSCCO sample groups were selected using a simple random
sample technique.
A third convenience sample group of members of KUSCCO
was interviewed for comparative purposes. A sample seminar
organized by KUSCCO was interviewed to provide more
qualititive data on its co-operative education service.
The analysis of the data collected indicated that
co-operative education is the most important service provided
by KUSCCO. All the respondents both members and non-members
of KUSCCO were unanimous on its importance. They felt that the
courses and seminars should be organi?:ed with the priority given to
committee and ordinary members in that order. The results
suggest that they would also be willing to pay for them or at
least contribute part of the money required to finance them.
The willingness to do this increases with participation in
such courses and seminars.
The respondents had mixed views on the importance of and
their satisfaction with the other services provided by KUSCCO.
Their views were influenced by their experience of using or
not using.. them. In general, one can conclude that the services provided by KUSCCO are essential particularly to the smaller
savings and credit co-operatives. Most of them cannot be able
to keep their books of accounts up-to-date because they may
not have adequate finances to employ qualified staff.
The services provided by KUSCCO are viable and can do
well if they are provided efficiently. There are also other
viable opport~nities for KUSCCO to expand its services to such
areas as: legal services; management and consultancy; printing
and publicity through a magazine or newsletter. These
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services including those that it is now providing are similar
to those provided or that should be provided by apex savings
and credit co-operatives.
However. for the organization to succeed it needs to
streamline its member contribution system so as to make it
easier. more equitable and convenient for its members. It
will also require to market its services more aggressively and
make them more competitive. | en |
