Founded on February 10, 1977, as Kiambu Teachers Sacco, this financial institution has garnered significant attention in recent years due to the reported loss of billions of shillings, purportedly associated with fraudulent activities.
After dedicating more than three decades to ensuring a secure retirement, a 68-year-old retired kindergarten teacher now finds herself living from hand to mouth.
The mother of six attributes her present hardships to the actions of Metropolitan National SACCO.
She consents to an interview but requests to remain anonymous.
“I’m still fighting to have the reminder of my money left in the SACCO returned to me, and if they get to know I am the one sharing the details I am going to share, they might frustrate me more,” claimed the retired teacher.
She now relies on small-scale agriculture for her livelihood.
She acknowledges that during the 1990s, the SACCO was among the most reputable financial institutions, drawing a significant number of civil servants, particularly from the education sector.
The last time she received a complete dividend was in 2016, which amounted to 12% of her savings; since that time, the Metropolitan National SACCO has experienced notable changes.
“It is eight years since my retirement, my money is still there. Every year we are called in for meetings, what we keep telling the management is we want a refund of our money,” insisted the former Kiambu County employee.
Data from the SACCO Societies Regulatory Authority (SASRA) reveals a significant decline in the total assets of Metropolitan SACCO, which fell from Ksh 10.02 billion in 2022 to Ksh 1.07 billion in 2023.
This decline can be attributed in part to a loss of membership, alongside an audit report that disclosed a staggering Ksh 12 billion in losses.
Insights from a former employee, who requested to remain anonymous due to safety concerns, indicate that billions were allegedly misappropriated by former senior executives.
Reports suggest that this embezzlement may have commenced as early as 2010, raising critical concerns regarding governance and oversight within the SACCO during that timeframe.
A finance graduate from the University of Nairobi claims that the financial misconduct began when the SACCO engaged two consultants to spearhead a new member recruitment initiative.
Concurrently, the SACCO launched a new loan product known as the premier loan product, intended to attract additional members.
According to the graduate, this initiative is believed to have facilitated the misappropriation of funds, as irregularities in loan disbursement surfaced, indicating that the product was potentially exploited for fraudulent purposes by former top management officials.
Furthermore, a former clerk at the SACCO disclosed that even fictitious members—whom he asserts were not actual individuals—were granted access to the loan product.
He estimates that nearly Ksh 4 billion was lost before the premier loan product was discontinued in 2017 due to legal complications.
Between 2012 and 2019, the former clerk claims that specific accounts, especially those associated with senior management, were able to execute successful transactions even when their balances were inadequate.
This situation was allegedly enabled by personnel within the IT department.
It is further claimed that when an account’s overdraft reached several million shillings, the outstanding debt would be eliminated, and the transaction records would be deleted, thereby rendering the funds untraceable.
“The overdrawing of accounts was done at the branch. A cashier would be commanded to give any amount of shillings. It would be debit to your account but the credit part would not reflect,” alleges the former metropolitan clerk.
As revealed by a former employee, between 2015 and 2017, officials exhibited increasingly sophisticated tactics.
When funds were deposited into the SACCO’s accounts, rather than being allocated for loans and reimbursements, a portion of these funds was redirected to various staff accounts.
Subsequently, the money was withdrawn in cash and reportedly handed over to the accounts office, thereby establishing a convoluted network of fraudulent transactions aimed at misappropriating substantial amounts without being detected.
The issues surrounding Metropolitan SACCO are not an isolated case.
Despite the 2023 SACCO Supervision Report by SASRA highlighting a flourishing sector with savings exceeding one trillion shillings and a membership increase to 6.84 million across 357 regulated SACCOs, the volume of complaints has significantly escalated.
In 2023 alone, the number of complaints reached 715, reflecting a rising dissatisfaction among members.
