Sacco fails to account for Sh22.6m teachers savings

Members of a local sacco may have lost over Sh22 million of their savings to wayward officials, it has emerged.

Officials of Faridi Sacco Society Limited, with over 6,000 members who are mainly teachers, have failed to account for Sh22,699,293.

The Standard has obtained correspondences of suspended CEO Cleophas Masinde and accountant Dennis Obare admitting that the money is missing.

Masinde and Obare, who were responding to audit queries raised by the sacco’s board chairman Dan Masiga through a letter dated October 17, 2018, said the money was missing, but they knew who was behind the loss.

Mr Masiga had asked them to account for the missing millions.

“It is imperative to note beneficiaries of the unsupported payments are well known to all of us,” Masinde’s response to Mr Masiga dated October 19 reads in part.

Masinde and Obare have listed officials from Government agencies, including Kenya Revenue Authority, Teachers Service Commission and the county co-operative department, as those who illegally benefited from members' savings.

He said some of the officials have been trooping to the sacco, located in Busia Town, to collect bribes.

In another letter dated October 28, Masinde laments that Mr Masiga is neither objective nor sincere in his quest to determine where the money disappeared.

“If you (chairman) are sincere with your investigations, why haven't you dismissed the treasurer Haggai Obuya as well as the clerks who are responsible for making payments?” he said.

The letter further reads: “I gave, in response, a detailed account of how and who was paid the money. I even went ahead and requested you (chairman) to recover the money from the payees.”

Masinde claimed two Sacco officials stormed his office and allegedly took huge sums of money.

“The treasurer and another person stormed my office and took money away, when they were planning to remove you from the office, claiming they had been sent by board of directors. If the cash never reached your colleagues, then we need an explanation.”

Masinde said he further advised the chairman that the best way the money could be recovered wass by surcharging the over 100 beneficiaries listed in his two letters to the board of directors.

Obare and Masiga declined to comment on the matter.

Acting CEO Dennis Omwoma was also unavailable for comment. A well-placed source at the sacco said investigations into the matter were ongoing.