Cooperative and MSME Development Cabinet Secretary Wycliffe Oparanya has directed all cooperative societies, unions, national cooperative organisations, and apex cooperatives to file their annual returns by the end of this month.
He warned that failure to comply will attract deregistration from the cooperative register.
Oparanya, who spoke Thursday during an Ethical, Leadership and Governance forum for Cooperative leaders organised by the Cooperative Alliance of Kenya (CAK) in Naivasha, noted that as stipulated under the Cooperative Societies Act, all cooperatives were required to file their annual returns in the prescribed manner and within the specified time frame of the end of April 30 each year. "Unfortunately, we have observed a growing number of societies failing to meet this legal obligation, thereby exposing themselves to the risk of deregistration," said Oparanya. "Let me be clear: any cooperative society that has failed to file its returns for the last three years and within the stipulated timelines will be struck off from the Cooperative Register and will cease to exist as a corporate entity.
This directive takes immediate effect, and all cooperative entities are expected to comply fully," he warned.
