The Sacco Societies Regulatory Authority (SASRA) has disclosed that thousands of SACCO members across Kenya are staring at potential financial losses after employer institutions failed to remit KSh 3.92 billion in deductions made from their salaries in 2025. Employers have failed to remit SACCO money, affecting 104,331 Kenyans across 89 SACCOs. Wycliffe Oparanya is the CS for Cooperatives. According to the latest SACCO Supervision Annual Report, the non-remitted amount climbed from KSh 3.49 billion in 2024, and the number of affected members rose sharply from 55,602 to 104,331 across 89 regulated SACCOs. County governments lead in SACCO defaults County governments and assemblies accounted for KSh 1.88 billion, or 48.09% of all unremitted funds, an increase from KSh 1.61 billion recorded the previous year. SASRA described the pattern as particularly alarming, noting that cooperative functions are constitutionally devolved to county governments, which should instead be at the forefront of compliance. The regulator was unequivocal about where the deducted funds had likely gone. “It is disturbing that the employees of the defaulting county governments and assemblies get paid, but the portions of funds deducted from such remunerations are not remitted to the beneficiary regulated SACCOs,” the report stated, adding that diversion to other purposes was the only plausible explanation. Other significant defaulters included public universities and tertiary colleges at KSh 725.91 million (18.52%), state corporations and parastatals at KSh 480.55 million (12.26%), private sector companies at KSh 345.27 million (8.81%), constitutional bodies at KSh 204.74 million (5.22%), and national government ministries at KSh 157.99 million (4.03%).
Distribution of the non-remitted funds owed by employer institutions in 2025. Source: SASRA. Source: UGC Impact on SACCO members and loan portfolios Of the KSh 3.92 billion total, KSh 3.04 billion related to unremitted loan repayments, while KSh 879.72 million covered back-office savings deposits, known as BOSA deductions. The loan repayment gap has pushed credit facilities at affected SACCOs into default or impairment, directly worsening the sector’s non-performing loan figures. Deposit-taking SACCOs bore the heaviest burden, with KSh 3.38 billion, representing 86.16% of all unremitted funds, owed to that segment alone. For individual members, the consequences are twofold. Those whose BOSA deductions were withheld find their borrowing capacity diminished, since loan eligibility is tied to accumulated savings. Those whose loan repayment deductions were retained by employers face disputes with their SACCOs over credit obligations they believe they have already discharged through their payslips. SASRA urged all regulated SACCOs to maintain thorough documentation on deduction claims, warning that incomplete records had already cost some SACCOs court cases against defaulting employers. The regulator committed to pursuing policy reforms aimed at closing the loopholes that allow government institutions to redirect employee deductions to unintended purposes.
