Sonyaco Housing wrangles solved

Two factions of a cooperative society in Homa Bay County who have locked horns over the ownership of a four story building complex in Homa Bay Town have eventually resolved the issue.
The protracted battle for ownership of the plaza between Sonyaco Credit and Savings Society and Sonyaco Housing Cooperative Society has been dragging for the past 26 years.
According to the management of the housing society, trouble started in 1993 when their administration collapsed.
In a tense meeting held Friday at KNUT hall in Homa Bay town, the State Department for Cooperatives through Assistant Commissioner for Cooperatives Patrick Macanyengo urged members to go by the report of the committee appointed to investigate the wrangles at the society.
Macanyengo categorically told the members to be orderly and maintain calm so that the report could be read to them.
The 30 pages report which was read by Suleiman Wandati and Peter Chege consecutively gave the housing society mandate to control the resources accrued from the plaza.
The report indicated that Sonyaco Sacco was registered in the year 1977 under Cooperative Act with membership of 3,088 drawn from teachers’ fraternity.
The speech, which was interrupted with applauses from over 300 eager members, said the main objective of the Sacco was to help members improve their socio economic wellbeing.
At the same time, the report also indicated that the Plaza should be handed over to the rightful owners and therefore asked the Sacco to relinquish the Plaza to the Housing team to enable them benefit from their sweat.
The officers stressed that any member with an issue or question should channel it to the Commissioner of Cooperatives.
On his part the chairman of Housing society Jairus Onyango applauded the report and called on his members to be patient as they wait for the cooperative officer to initiate the handing/ taking over process.
Onyango added that for members who had passed on, their spouses would be considered while paying out the dividends accrued from the building.
He called on the two governors of Migori and Homa Bay counties to consider granting them some funds to develop a plot adjacent to cooperative bank.
By Martin Shikuku/Davis Langat