The Kenyan government has launched a formal inquiry into the financial affairs and management of Qona Sacco, a prominent digital-first savings and credit co-operative formerly known as Safaricom Sacco. The move follows months of pressure from the Sacco’s own members, who raised alarms about the institution’s financial health, culminating in a vote to demand a formal investigation.
A gazette notice dated September 29, 2025, signed by the Commissioner for Co-operative Development, David K. Obonyo, officially authorized the probe. The inquiry is mandated to investigate the Sacco’s by-laws, its “working and financial conditions,” and the conduct of its current and former management committees.
The path to the formal inquiry began at the Sacco’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) on March 1, 2025. During the meeting, a proposal was put forward by the Commissioner for Co-operatives to conduct a review of the Sacco’s financial statements, a motion that members voted to support.
Following that review, an inspection report was prepared by the Commissioner’s office. The findings were presented to members during a Special General Meeting (SGM) held on May 31, 2025. It was at this meeting that the members formally voted in favor of a full inquiry, escalating the review from a simple inspection to a formal investigation into the Sacco’s governance.
The government has appointed a three-person team to conduct the inquiry, led by Silars Okoth Dede, an Assistant Director of Co-operative Audit. The team is authorized to hold an inquiry at a place and time of their choosing within 15 days from the date of the notice.
While the official notice does not specify the exact reasons for the members’ concerns, documents from the Sacco’s AGM earlier in the year shed light on potential issues. In a Q&A document released after its March 2025 AGM, Qona Sacco acknowledged its financial exposure to the struggling Kenya Union of Savings and Credit Co-operatives (KUSCCO). At the time of KUSCCO’s reported financial challenges, Qona Sacco held KShs 105 million in interest-earning deposits and KES 31 million in shares with the union. The Sacco confirmed it had to provision for a loss of KES 26 million related to these funds.
The inquiry places one of Kenya’s largest and most visible Saccos under a microscope. Qona, which markets itself as a “digital-first community,” holds over KES 12 billion in assets and has deep roots in Kenya’s tech community, having started as the employee Sacco for telecom giant Safaricom. The investigation will examine potential offenses and surcharges as outlined in the Co-operative Societies Act.
