Strategic factors affecting compliance with the Sacco act of 2008 by deposit taking savings and credit cooperatives in Nairobi County

Abstract

Savings and Credit Cooperatives (Sacco‟s) play an increasingly important role in the process of financial intermediation in the highly competitive financial market in Kenya. Various players in the financial sector are under regulatory arms and include Insurance regulatory authority, Retirement benefits authority, commercial banks under Central bank of Kenya and lately Sacco‟s under Sacco society‟s regulatory authority (SASRA). The Sacco societies Act of 2008 (SSA) and subsequently the establishment of the Sacco Societies Regulatory Authority (SASRA) came in against a compromised profitability, mismanagement issues, embezzlement of funds loss of members to banks, incompetent staff, backdrop of losses and poor corporate governance. The study‟s overall objective was to examine the strategic factors affecting compliance with the Sacco Act of 2008 by Deposit Taking Sacco in Nairobi County. The specific objectives of the study were; establish the effect of human resource capacity on compliance with the Sacco Act by Deposit Taking Sacco‟s, determine the effect of Information and Communications Technology on compliance with the Sacco Act by Deposit Taking Sacco‟s, establish the effect of Corporate Governance on compliance with the Sacco Act by Deposit Taking Sacco‟s and determine the joint effect of human resource capacity, information and communication technology and corporate governance on compliance with the Sacco Act by Deposit Taking Sacco‟s. The study adopted a correlational research design and a census survey of 42 Deposit taking Sacco‟s in Nairobi County. Data was collected using a questionnaire and analyzed using descriptive statistics with the aid of Statistical Package for Social Sciences computer software version 21. To test the relationship in the hypotheses HA1, HA2 and HA3 Pearson‟s correlation analysis was used while hypothesis HA4 was tested using multiple regression model in testing the strategic factors affecting compliance with the Sacco Act of 2008 by Deposit Taking Sacco‟s in Nairobi County. The findings include that Information Communication Technology capacity of the Sacco‟s in Nairobi County are inadequate; The Sacco‟s in the County have not attained the required human resource capacity and approximately 80% of the Sacco‟s have not fully complied with the Societies‟ Act of 2008. The research‟s conclusion and recommendations were that Information and Communication Technology capacity, corporate governance and human resource capacity were found to be important as far as compliance with the Societies‟ Act of 2008 is concerned. These factors present challenges that hinder deposit taking Sacco‟s from compliance. Therefore more time should be given to deposit taking Sacco‟s to ensure that they comply with the Act. The research recommends Sacco‟s to enhance management capacity on compliance issues, establish a training program, while on the other hand the board of directors should initiate change management with an aim of setting realistic user expectations objectives and goals.