Co-operatives in a Liberalised Economic Environment

Abstract

'No man is an island of himself' so goes the old popular English saymg, which emphasizes co-operation of mankind in all spheres of everyday activities, be they personal or social dealings. A co-operative society is an engine for economic growth of our country, if well utilised; nationally it increases employment, capital formation, marketing of products and credit supply hence leading to poverty eradication. Co-operative societies engage in a wide range of activities; housing, industrial, agriculture, banking among others. There are over 10,000 registered co-operative societies with membership of above 5.7 million. Close to 80% of Kenyan population derive their livelihood direct or indirectly from the co• 1 operative movement. Given the importance of these societies in our country, the government has sought ways on how to assist members of those societies reap maximum benefits. However, those interventions have encountered a myriad of challenges; mismanagement, leadership wrangles, negative effects of liberalisation, low levels of awareness and illiteracy, fluctuation and unpredictable prices, loss of members to HIV/AIDS pandemic and low patronage among others. 2 Due to the above bottlenecks faced by societies the government has always responded by changing its policies and statutes pertain to the co-operative movements. After independence, co-operatives were recognised as the best strategy to help mobilise people in the mainstream economy. Due to low literacy levels, the state had to play a major role in the day-to-day running of co-operatives. The co-operatives societies Act 1966, CAP 4903 was enacted in 1966 and gave the government wide supervisory powers