The grand opening ceremony was graced by Meru County Governor Kawira Mwangaza who congratulated the Sacco for its expansion and especially for finding it worthy to bring its services to the county.

Bishop Mwangaza said such institutions play a key role in enhancing her administration’s endeavor to drive economic growth and meaningfully improve Meru residents’ lives.

“We are grateful that the Sacco has expressed a commitment to promote financial literacy, foster a savings culture, offer affordable credit facilities, and provide accessible and reliable financial solutions equitably within our community, “she said.

“I extend my heartfelt congratulations and warm welcome to this latest entrant to Meru County’s financial services sector. I also urge the people of Meru to embrace Saccos because they stand for economic empowerment and stability,” said Governor Mwangaza.

The Sacco’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Richard Nyaanga said the management and the board informed the decision to open a branch in Meru to bring services close to its members.

He said Apstar is a countrywide Sacco with members from all the 47 counties and through representation, they usually have a branch with a high concentration of members.

“Meru is a rich and potential area in almost all activities including agriculture and more so we were informed by the Central Bank’s decision to have a branch in Meru, which tells you the kind of collections in terms of money and economic transactions that take place here,” said Mr Nyaanga.

He said other factors that informed the opening of the branch include the vast region of Meru and the activities such as businesses, agricultural products including miraa, bananas, and avocado farming.

“Meru County has 1600 members in our Sacco compared to a population of almost 1.5million people.”

“This means that we have many people who we have left out and bringing the branch here means we want to tap the large numbers and the potential of business activities here,” said Mr Nyaanga.

In growth and expansion, he added, the Sacco has been opening branches on a stepwise method where they can make economic sense, and in Meru, they are sure they will tap into these resources.

He thanked the government for setting aside a ministry of Cooperatives and Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) which he said will empower Saccos to recover more from the shocks of the Covid-19 period.

National Chairman Philip Cherono said the Sacco started way back in 1972 and up to now it has an asset base of more than Sh15billion, a loan book of Sh12billion, and deposits of Sh11billion.

He said the Sacco wants to partner with the Meru community’s stakeholders including the county government, farmers, and small- and large-scale traders to develop together.

“We want to support community development and the government’s efforts in enriching its people so that Kenyans can have access to food, clothing, shelter as well as educating their children,” said Mr Cherono.

He added that encompassing all Kenyans despite their economic status was their main aim of rebranding from Ukulima to Apstar Sacco as the previous name was taken to mean that we could only include government employees from the agricultural sector.

“For a long time, cooperative movements, especially Saccos were started by people employed in various sectors of our economy. This was not right because it became like institutions for higher income earners leaving out the rest,” said Mr Cherono.