Nakuru Prevailing Sacco in con games – Weekly Citizen

Fresh complaints have emerged against trouble- ridden Nakuru-based Prevailing Sacco which has been accused of fraudulently obtaining money from unsuspecting investors.

A member has written protest letters to several government authorities including the office of the ombudsman expressing her predicament after losing a Sh3 million to the Sacco.

In an exclusive interview with Weekly Citizen, Christine Wanjiru, a Kenyan citizen with permanent residence in the United Kingdom detailed how she was lured into joining the Sacco with a promise of quick higher loans from her savings and shares.

However, after religiously saving a total of Sh3,585,698 between July 2018 and September 2019, Christine detected some foul play that frustrated her move to access a loan against her savings and shares as stipulated in section 4 of the Co-operative Act cap 460 of the Kenyan law.

According to the victim who is member number 14,436, she had been making her deposits through the Sacco chairlady Joyce Wanjiku and secretary Evans Mzenge who received over Sh3 million in installments, money which was being sent from United Kingdom through worldremit (mobile phone transaction), customer number WR 1324051.

Christine said she was irked when the two officials bombarded her with myriad excuses when she floated loan idea and it was during this process that she discovered she was presented with what looked like fake documents from the DCI office.

DCI boss Kinoti

She has since asked the DCI to swing into quick action and investigate suspicious circumstances surrounding how two top Sacco officials obtained police clearance certificate on her behalf, a document the Sacco officials insisted was a requirement before reimbursement of her savings could be effected.

What further raised her suspicions regarding the authenticity of the vital document is when the certificate number 7483520 ref PCC-AAKFGA4, signed by one PM Ndunda, was produced and sent to her even without taking her fingerprints .

The woman through her local networks later learnt that there are no clear statements from the Sacco on members’ savings, shares or loans given out and shares held by members as required by the law.

Some receipts in our possession do not indicate the Kenya Revenue Authority Pin for the Sacco and no ETR generated receipts were provided in the case of Christine who claimed that at one point, in a bid to scam her more money, the officials told her that KRA had fined them Sh3 million.

The woman in her email further revealed that the Sacco does not have a valid and current trade licence from Nakuru county government as the last one was renewed in 2016 in Bahati area, suspiciously out of town yet the offices are in Nakuru town CBD Highway Towers on fifth floor.

The name of Nakuru county licensing officer has prominently featured in the dirty operations of Prevailing Sacco following allegations that the county office has been pocketed to cover the rogue Sacco on the loose.

Christine has produced a range of facts pointing at chronological events including the embattled chairlady Wanjiku and secretary Mzenge pulled the heist, which is now causing her sleepless nights.

She states that Wanjiku p e r s o n a l l y obtained money through her mobile phone number 0746813988 amounting to Sh1,157,091s with no receipts issued while on the other hand, Mzenge duped her Sh573, 380 sent to his mobile number 0700320008.

Documents provided also show that she had made cash and bank deposits amounting to Sh674,039 while amount sent to the Sacco through third party when their account was claimed to have been frozen amounts to Sh1,181,188.50.

Weekly Citizen has learnt that Prevailing Sacco is not new to troubles given some previous ugly events that saw irate members turned ballistic against leadership of the Sacco said to have perfected the art of minting millions of shillings from unsuspecting members.

Inside sources detailed that the chairlady and secretary are so smart that they would technically complicate matters making it difficult even to the authorities to easily understand the criminal and civil aspects in many cases haunting them.

Sometimes back the Sacco found itself in deep trouble when disgruntled members rudely interrupted officials meeting at Cicada Hotel in Eldoret town demanding their money back.

The Sacco’s officials were embroiled in serious session when more than 3,000 charged members drawn from Uasin Gishu, Trans Nzoia and Nakuru counties surfaced with the demand.

Others claimed that they were issued with fake cheques when they asked for loans.

Efforts to reach chairlady Wanjiku and secretary Mzenge through the phone numbers provided by the complainant hid a dead end proved as the latter’s phone number appeared to have blocked incoming calls while the chairlady did not respond to several calls and text messages by press time.

Imperatively, Prevailing Sacco was affected when Sasra blacklisted five Saccos found to be operating illegally.

It was blacklisted alongside Good Life Sacco Society and related Fedha Micro-Finance Investment Ltd, New Milimani Sacco Society Ltd, Millionaire Sacco Kenya and Urithi Premier and related Urithi Housing Co-operative Society Ltd.

Weekly Citizen has information that Prevailing Sacco is now under pressure to avail to its members the by-laws registered on April 23 2014 as stipulated by the Co-operative Societies Act.