By Ian Okal
Kenya’s cooperative movement which commands assets surpassing Sh1.5 trillion stands at a historic inflection point, says Cooperative Alliance of Kenya (CAK) chairman McCloud Malonza.
Speaking at this year’s national cooperative forum, Malonza framed the sector’s 2025 theme—Shaping the Future of Cooperatives: Leadership, Innovation and Sustainable Growth—as less of an ideal and more of an urgent call to action. “The future we speak of is not distant,” he said. “It is the immediate tomorrow we must build together today.”
However, for a sector that has recently has been spotlighted by improper management acts, he reiterated that securing that future begins with leadership. Not symbolic leadership, but professional, empowered stewardship that can withstand shocks and guide institutions through an increasingly complex financial landscape. He warned that cooperatives cannot rely on outdated governance structures if they hope to compete in a digitised, integrated economy.
“A cooperative cannot be stronger than the governance that steers it,” he emphasised. “We must move beyond rudimentary governance to one defined by skill, professionalism and unflinching integrity.”
He called for continuous capacity building for board members, strict separation of policy oversight from daily management, and deliberate investment in institutional resilience. Malonza urged SACCO boards to cultivate strategic foresight, insisting that “fiduciary duty must be matched with financial literacy.”
Setting up dedicated reserve funds for technological upgrades and diversifying investment portfolios to protect members from unpredictable shocks is a top priority. “Good governance is the foundation,” he said. “Resilience is the protective wall.”
Malonza was candid about what he described as “a crippling pain area” for SACCOs: an unclear and, at times, punitive tax regime that treats cooperatives like conventional profit-driven corporations.
