This week offered another reminder of how fragile the sacco sector’s biggest ambitions around the National Payments System remain.
The Co-operatives Bill, which would repeal the outdated Co-operative Societies Act and allow saccos to connect directly to the National Payments System, is still stuck in a parliamentary Mediation Committee after the National Assembly rejected Senate amendments in April.
That delay matters because the sector now holds more than Sh1.5 trillion in member deposits and assets, yet remains locked out of the payment rails that Sacco Central was created to access.
But the legislation is only part of the story. More revealing was Mentor Sacco chief executive Joyce Waceke’s warning that the vacuum created by the stalled Bill is being filled by poorly researched claims circulating in public forums.
If misinformation can spread before Sacco Central is operational, it will spread even faster once billions of shillings in liquidity and shared data begin flowing through a central platform. The real challenge has never been whether the technology works. It is whether members trust the institutions running it.
Sacco Central is designed as a member-owned secondary cooperative providing shared infrastructure to participating saccos.
It already has 74 members, including 72 deposit-taking saccos. The Treasury’s implementation framework envisions a Central Liquidity Facility, a shared digital services platform and eventual access to the National Payments System.
Smaller saccos, which struggle to afford sophisticated banking systems, cybersecurity and analytics, stand to benefit most.
Yet sacco members are not just customers; they are owners. That raises different questions whenever systems change: Who can access my information? Who controls my money? What happens if something goes wrong?
Technology may promise efficiency, but members judge institutions through transparency and accountability. Trust cannot be treated as a communications exercise after launch. It must be built into Sacco Central from the outset.
That starts with three practical measures.
First, every sacco should have a rapid-response protocol capable of addressing false claims about deposits or liquidity within hours rather than days.
Second, trusted local messengers matter more than head office statements. Rumours travel fastest through branch networks, chama groups and WhatsApp conversations.
Third, members need simple quarterly transparency reports in Kiswahili and English explaining where pooled liquidity sits and what governance decisions have been made. None of these measures requires Parliament to pass the Bill.
Ultimately, Sacco Central’s success will be measured by whether members believe their money is safer, their sacco is stronger and their voice still matters.