By JANE WAITHIRA
Members of Muka Mukuu Farmers Co-operative Society in Machakos County have ejected their leaders from office, accusing them of misappropriating millions of shillings belonging to the society.
The shareholders, mainly elderly men and women, installed an interim team over what they termed mismanagement of the society’s affairs, which they claimed had resulted in losses of up to Sh250 million every month.
The society, which has more than 2,600 members, unanimously appointed Mutisya Mutevu, the Supervisory Committee chairman, to remain in office on an interim basis until fresh elections are held.
During a special meeting at the society’s Donyo Sabuk head office, speakers accused the current management of misappropriating funds and called for the intervention of the national government to facilitate changes in leadership.
Led by Peter Muasya, the shareholders announced the suspension of the management committee chaired by Dominic Mutuku pending fresh elections.
They later locked the premises and hired their own security guards to prevent the current office bearers from accessing the offices until new officials are elected.
Muasya, who spoke on behalf of the members, accused local co-operative officials of colluding with the management to defraud the society.
“Under the watch of co-operative officers, the society has been losing Sh250 million every month through illegal leasing of stone-mining quarries. We want action taken against the current management and the wayward ministry officials,” Muasya charged.
The shareholders also appealed to Co-operatives and MSMEs Cabinet Secretary Wycliffe Oparanya to intervene and ensure their grievances are addressed and society property recovered.
Among the issues they raised were the alleged illegal sale of plots and leasing of stone-mining quarries belonging to the society under what they termed questionable circumstances.
“There has been illegal sale of land belonging to the society to non-members. This includes 4,400 acres of the buffer zone between the settled area and Ol Donyo Sabuk National Park,” Muasya claimed.
However, Mutuku dismissed the accusations as unfounded, describing the move as a witch-hunt by some former management committee officials and a cartel seeking to oust his team.
He vowed to resist the move, saying the allegations were baseless and that his administration had transformed the society through improved management systems.
“These are baseless claims since we have turned around the society and introduced sound management systems which have seen members earning dividends every year,” Mutuku said.
However, former management committee member Constantino Mutua claimed that the society was losing Sh16 million daily through what he termed reckless expenditure and called for an independent audit of its accounts.
“The dividends that members get in a year, averaging Sh3,000, are negligible compared to the money lost monthly. The management committee cannot account for more than Sh200 million misappropriated every single month,” Mutua maintained.
Police officers who were providing security at the premises watched from a distance as members marched around the compound chanting slogans but did not interfere with the proceedings.
