High-level delegation benchmarks Kenya National Police DT SACCO on governance, digital finance and financial sustainability
Botswana is looking to Kenya’s cooperative finance sector for lessons on building stronger, sustainable and digitally enabled SACCOs, with Vice President Ndaba Nkosinathi Gaolathe leading a high-level delegation on a benchmarking visit to Kenya National Police DT SACCO.
The delegation visited the SACCO to examine how it has strengthened governance, expanded digital financial services, enhanced financial sustainability and adapted its operations to changing member needs.
The engagement went beyond a courtesy visit, with the Botswana delegation seeking practical approaches that could inform the country’s cooperative sector.
Vice President Gaolathe said the discussions had provided lessons that the delegation could apply in Botswana.
“The discipline of your board members is remarkable. From today’s interactions, we have learned a great deal. We are not only taking learnings with us; we now know what we are going to act on,” he said.
The visit reflects Botswana’s interest in Kenya’s experience as it explores ways of strengthening cooperative institutions and improving financial services for members.
Kenya National Police DT SACCO Chairman David Mategwa said the engagement demonstrated the importance of African institutions learning from successful approaches within the continent.
“This visit is a testament to the value of sharing African solutions with one another. We believe the experience gained here can open the door to deeper cooperation between our institutions and contribute to the growth of the cooperative movement across the continent,” said Mategwa.
The benchmarking discussions covered governance, member education, savings mobilisation, digital financial services, institutional sustainability and strategic partnerships.
The delegation also explored the wider role of cooperatives in supporting communities through initiatives in education, healthcare, climate action and community development.
Presenting Kenya National Police DT SACCO’s transformation journey, Chief Executive Officer Solomon Angutsa Atsiaya said the institution’s progress had been driven by its ability to continually adapt to members’ needs.
“Our transformation has been driven by a simple principle: a SACCO must continuously evolve around the needs of its members. We are pleased to share both the progress we have made and the lessons from our journey, including the challenges we have had to overcome,” said Atsiaya.
He added that the exchange was a two-way learning process, noting that the SACCO also looked forward to gaining insights from Botswana.
Digitalisation emerged as one of the key areas of the SACCO’s transformation, with Atsiaya describing its digital platform as the institution’s “biggest branch”.
At the same time, he emphasised the importance of maintaining a strong savings culture among members as the institution expands its digital services.
The visit also opened the possibility of deeper cooperation between the two countries’ cooperative institutions.
Vice President Gaolathe invited the leadership of Kenya National Police DT SACCO to Botswana for a reciprocal learning visit, which would provide an opportunity for both sides to exchange experiences and explore areas of collaboration.
The proposed visit would build on the benchmarking exercise and could create a longer-term platform for sharing approaches to governance, financial inclusion, innovation and sustainable cooperative growth.
For Botswana, the engagement provides an opportunity to examine aspects of Kenya’s SACCO model that could potentially be adapted to its own market. For Kenya National Police DT SACCO, the exchange provides an opportunity to share its transformation experience while learning from Botswana’s cooperative sector.
The engagement points to a broader role for African institutions in developing home-grown approaches to financial inclusion and cooperative development by sharing experiences across markets with similar economic and social needs.
