Garissa County Government has completed a training session for cooperative society officials to enhance prudent management and efficiency in cooperative societies in the county.
During the training, 40 management committees drawn from 10 Saccos across the county benefited from a digital proficiency uptake course in co-operative leadership and management.
The three-day training facilitated by lecturers from the Cooperative University of Kenya (CUK) is a collaboration between USAID funded Livestock Marketing Systems (LMS), the county directorate of co-operatives and the county directorate of livestock management.
“We are training leaders from milk, meat, livestock, fodder and bee keeping Saccos and cooperatives so that their management and governance skills are enhanced,” LMS boss John Kutwa said, revealing that the saccos had earlier been given laptops and printers to help them improve their digital and business skills.
Kutwa said LMS has also supported capacity building of 10 technical staff from the directorate of cooperatives, to enable them effectively fulfill their mandate in the local industry.
Senior cooperative officer Bishar Malele noted local producers have realized the benefits of coming together as cooperative societies leading to the growth of the Sacco movement in the county, where for a long time, the few that existed were inactive.
According to Malele, Garissa has 56 cooperative societies with nine being registered as cooperatives, while 47 are Savings and Credit Societies. Of these, 36 are active, 20 are dormant and two have collapsed.
Malele divulged that there are more than 6,000 registered cooperative society members in the county with a share capital turnover of Sh10 million.
Present during the occasion were LMS gender specialist Betty Mutua, LMS business development specialist Abdullahi Dahir and CUK lecturers Richard Mwangeka and Silas Maiyo.
By Mohamed Dahir
