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{
    "id": 981986,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/981986/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 387,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. (Dr.) Mwaura",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13129,
        "legal_name": "Isaac Maigua Mwaura",
        "slug": "isaac-mwaura"
    },
    "content": "Madam Temporary Speaker, I have just come in. I was going through the Bill but nevertheless, I would like to make my remarks. I would like to congratulate Sen. Pareno for speaking ebulliently about how SACCOs are misused by many people to swindle Kenyans of their hard earned money. This is the case of Kiambu County where there were so many investors who were told that they were going to part of a SACCO society. Those people were given ridiculous amounts of money to invest in return for houses. Kenyans are very desperate to invest and get a house, which is a basic necessity. I receive a lot of calls from poor people about Gakuyo Investment. I hope that the blind man from Murang’a who asked me to help him recover his Kshs20,000 from Gakuyo Investment is listening to me. He has been crying for justice because he has Prostate Cancer. He approached me, as a Senator who represent persons with disabilities, to help him recover the money for purposes of treatment. We all know that Kshs20,000 may not do much but that is all the money that he had invested and entrusted in Gakuyo Investment. Madam Temporary Speaker, other people I went to school with were also victims of Gakuyo Investment. They were part of the demonstrators. A friend of mine by the name Eunice was also conned off her investment together with her husband. There are many people who invest in SACCOs which are nothing more than Ponzi schemes. A few years ago, pyramid schemes defrauded Kenyans by telling them that they would benefit from their deposits once they become part of the pyramid scheme. Many people were conned huge sums of money. The late hon. Francis Nyenze was appointed to head the task force that looked into the issue of pyramid schemes which had become a national crisis. A former Member of Parliament (MP), hon. Paddy Ahenda, who was a Member then was accosted by the public because he was accused of engaging in the pyramid scheme. Pyramid schemes are based on selling nothing but greed to people. We are in a serious rat race where people are looking for money and want to be better than their neighbours, people easily fall for such schemes in the form of SACCOs. I recently joined a church-based SACCO. While officiating the SACCO, the pastor was very clear that there should not be conning where members are unaware of how their money is being used. Madam Temporary Speaker, this amendment is very important because people now fear SACCOs. However, the SACCO societies provide a good opportunity for people to uplift themselves from poverty because they are not taxed and they do not incur a lot of interest. It is a cheap way of getting loans that one can use for development. Parliament, for instance, has two main SACCOs; Bunge Co-operative Society (BUCOSO) and Parliamentary Savings and Credit Co-operative Society (PACOSO). The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}