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{
    "id": 981987,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/981987/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 388,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. (Dr.) Mwaura",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13129,
        "legal_name": "Isaac Maigua Mwaura",
        "slug": "isaac-mwaura"
    },
    "content": "I do not know whether Members would ever survive without BUCOSO. The BUCOSO has been very useful to me because when I have an emergency, I go to Sen. (Prof.) Ongeri, who is older and wiser, so he is usually very generous, to sign for me as my guarantor. Thereafter, I go to my fellow comrade, Sen. Cherargei to sign the loan form as my guarantor. Lastly, I go to Sen. Pareno who always wants to know whether I can really repay the money. Within no time, the money ends up in my account and I am able to do what I need to do. We need to encourage the country by tightening the ropes with regards to SACCOS and ensure that we rope out people who try to look at SACCOs as opportunities for self-aggrandisement and self-enrichment. Madam Temporary Speaker, the Youth Enterprise Development Fund (YEDF) was a very good initiative by President Kibaki. I was in attendance when the fund was launched at KICC in 2006. However, it has not yielded the results that it was meant to achieve. They require applicants to have collateral while the collateral in SACCOs is the social capital. It is about the people you know who can guarantee you. The SACCOs help many people who have good ideas to see their ideas off the ground. Looking at this Bill, I am convinced that Parliament needs to have some oversight role on these SACCOs. I know that there is a Special Funds Committee in the National Assembly. This Bill ensures that there is more say for parliamentarians over SACCOs such that if there are complaints about the mismanagement of SACCOs, people can find recourse within the House of people’s representative and the counties. This Amendment Bill should also ensure that we are able to delineate the roles of counties in terms of spurring investment and savings within those counties and county entities. That is one of the things that need to be looked into. When I look further into this Bill, I see the issue of deposit taking SACCOs, for example, especially in terms of delineating the various types of businesses that can be done. The difference between SACCOs and shylocks--- The other culprit in this market is people calling themselves microfinance saving societies, but they are nothing more than shylocks. SACCOs should be restricted to very low interest. The advent of online moneylenders, including Fuliza, M-shwari, M-kopa and others, are impoverishing our youth. If you look at the amounts of money being charged, they are operating in the ambit of SACCOs. Madam Temporary Speaker, this Bill is important, but it needs to be very clear because we have to differentiate between a bank, SACCOs and financial lenders, the so- called microfinance institutions. We need to have a proper regulatory regime, so that we are not able to just transition and operate depending on will. We know that Equity Bank started as a SACCO. Likewise, Cooperative Bank and Family Bank started as SACCOs. Therefore, we have a very good opportunity to build financial institutions such as banks from these SACCOs, but then there is a grey area. That is why most people lose their money. Remember banks like the Agrarian Bank that ran away with people’s money. Therefore, this is a good Bill. I hope that we will take time not just to debate it for the sake of approval because we need to get concurrence with regards to our sister House, but put meat into it. This is because this House has debated about online financial lenders 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."
}