NewFortis Sacco will soon pay out to its members Sh370 million for the last financial year as dividends and interests. The Sacco Chairman, Mr John Githinji said this is an increase of over Sh60 million compared to what was paid out for 2014/2015.Speaking during this year’s Annual General Meeting at Nyamachaki PCEA hall in Nyeri town recently, he said non-withdraw able deposits now stand at Sh2.8 billion compared to Sh2.4 billion last year.“The total membership of last year has also grown to 11,930 compared to 10,314 members in 2015. This year, the Sacco will focus on Agri-business which could boost members’ alternative income and build capacity,” said Mr. Githinji.The Chairman also expressed the commitment by the Sacco to continue improving its infrastructure to support the personalization of the mobile platform in order to conduct business by streamlining processes and increasing efficiency through deep integration of ICT systems.
The Sacco has also started mentorship programmes for the youth who have constraints in accessing funding for any level of business ventures.“The young people have also limited business experience and skills and find it difficult to enjoy any start up from financial institutions due to long procedures. The youth should be job creators through entrepreneurship. This will improve livelihoods and can be a source of new job opportunities,” said the chairman.The Sacco received many awards last year including taking the first position as the best managed co-operative countrywide, best managed teachers Sacco countrywide, best in loaning services (teachers category) and best in training and education service (teachers Category).However, the Sacco is facing various challenges including technological innovation and competition from other financial institutions.ICT Cabinet Secretary, Mr. Joe Mucheru, Teachers Service Commission (TSC) CEO Nancy Macharia, several Principal Secretaries and Nyeri Senator Mutahi Kagwe who were also present during the event lauded the Sacco for its management which has led to members benefiting.Meanwhile, the Sacco plans to increase its membership to over 20, 000 in the next three years, from the current 11,930.The Chairman has also disclosed that the society registered a share capital of Sh3.3 billion and an asset base of Sh5.1 billion as at December last year.
Githinji said NewFortis has been rated the best managed Sacco overall in over 10,000 Saccos registered in the country.“We now have around 167 Saccos who are running front offices or even above that but what we need to agree is that even within the rating, the most important thing is services we are able to offer to our members,” he said. Hailing the role played by the cooperative movement, the chairman urged all stakeholders to support Saccos as their multiplier effects still goes to the villages enabling local communities to grow and have a sustainable and affordable financial services. Mr. Githinji was speaking after election of the Sacco’s board members going on the third rotation recently. During the elections, most of the board members were returned unopposed while the only one who was opposed managed to retain the seat.On his part, Sacco CEO, John Mathinji said governance of the co-operative movement should be given to people who are ready to work for the community and focused on engineering the movement to ensure that it grows. On Information Communication Technology (ICT), he said most small Saccos may not be able to afford it as it involves huge investment.The Sacco, formerly Nyeri Teachers Sacco rebranded in 2015 in what the chairman said was a move to open it up to members from other professional fields.