Police officers have raised concerns about the deposits and savings at the Kenya Police Sacco, taking issues with the current Chairman Mr. David Mategwa who they accused of being incompetent, unqualified, and untrustworthy in matters to do with money.
Speaking on the point of anonymity for fear of being victimized as it has always been, the officers say Mr. Mategwa has no academic qualifications to hold such a big position and be in charge of such huge amounts of money from police officers.
According to the officers, Kenya Police Sacco is being mismanaged with members being frustrated and unable to access the savings that they so much need given the high cost of living that has hit millions of Kenyan households.
“It is painful that our money is automatically deducted from our already emaciated pay slips, remitted to the Sacco but becomes a horrendous nightmare to access the same. Some of our colleagues have collapsed at Sacco offices trying to access their money,” said one police officer.
The offices, who also channeled their frustrations through the Bunge La Mwananchi Social Movement, say that their Sacco has failed to address their welfare. They say due to the constant frustrations, some police officers have committed suicide.
The Chairman of Kenya Police Sacco, David Mategwa, has been accused of forcing his way to the chairmanship of the Sacco without proper academic credentials. He is said to have been bragging that he has deep pockets that will always protect him and his position.
Mr. Mategwa was initially a board member of Kenya Union of Savings and Credit Co-operatives Ltd (KUSCCO) before he was fired for failing to produce his academic papers. He moved to court to challenge the decision but the court dismissed his case. He appealed the court’s decision and the appeal was dismissed the second time.
A simple ask from the courts and the former employer was that Mategwa provide his academic certificates. He could not provide even a simple certificate of either KCPE or KCSE or any other academic papers that existed before the start of the 8-4-4 system.
Under his chairmanship, Kenya Police Sacco members have been treated with a charade of several system failures with reports of the Sacco accounts being hacked with an unknown amount of money being lost.
Through Bunge la Mwananchi, officers are accusing Mategwa of amassing billions of unexplained and uncountable massive wealth since his take over as the chairman of Police Sacco. Members say that Mategwa has been bragging that he paid the CEO of SASSRA, Mr. Peter Njuguna, a whopping 4,000,000 shillings and that there is nowhere he is going.
“We are calling on SASRA to order a forensic audit of Police Sacco savings and establish the status of the Sacco’s operations as soon as possible,” said one of the police officers.
Police Sacco has 72,000 members and has an asset base of 49 billion shillings, a loan portfolio of 41 billion shillings, and a total deposit of 29 billion shillings, making it one of the richest saccos in Kenya.
Given that some police officers have either sunk into depression or committed suicide, this matter should be treated with the urgency it deserves.
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