Kilifi Women Empowerment Cooperative Society (KWECOS) in collaboration with Kilifi County Government has launched KWECOS Sacco, aimed at fostering financial growth and empowerment among women in the county.
Through the Sacco, the women-led cooperative society will be able to instill a savings, borrowing, and investment culture among its members.
Speaking to the media, KWECOS chairperson Ephie Wesa stated that the main motivating point to start the Sacco was to provide an avenue for women to handle the diverse challenges they faced in their daily lives.
“The county government has been coming up with good policies to help women but the interventions do not reach the women on the ground. So we want to partner with the county to be able to reach women at the grassroots level,” Wesa said.
Together with its current 357 registered members, Wesa disclosed that the Sacco is laying down plans to conduct a recruitment drive in all the wards in Kilifi where they would be targeting to register at least 1000 new members from each ward.
She further urged women in the county to register with the Sacco, assuring them that with the Sacco’s firm and diligent leadership, their money would be safe with them.
“We wanted to come up with something unique and transparent, and hence our motto: Breaking barriers and building bridges.” We want to foster development for women here in Kilifi,” Wesa remarked.
KWECOS treasurer Najma Mangi disclosed that the Sacco has so far collected Sh208,000 in membership fees and Sh48,000 in savings.
She added that KWECOS Sacco has many development programmes in place and various insurance packages that registered members would highly benefit from.
“The policies that we have in place are very different from other existing Saccos in the county. Members will have access to loans whose interest rate will be favorable to them,” Mangi said.
Mangi assured members of the safety of their money stating that the cooperative society has formulated by-laws tailored to women’s needs that would help to safeguard money saved and help them save more money.
New members of the Sacco led by Aisha Said appreciated the cooperative society’s efforts to include local women during the formation of the Sacco, among them women of low-income status.
“This Sacco will give our low-income women a chance to avoid challenges that they face in ‘chamas’ that are characterized by unsecured loans, unstable structures, and returns from chamas are rarely guaranteed,” Said added.
By Cynthia Maseno and Jackson Msanzu
