Award-winning Kenya National Police Deposit Taking (DT) SACCO has added yet another trophy to its decorated cabinet after scooping the Excellence in Financial Reporting (FiRe) 2021 Award in the SACCOs category.
The leading SACCO maintained the lead as the overall winner in the the SACCO Category after scooping the trophy in the year 2020. As a confirmation of good financial reporting, the SACCO also received recognition for best financial reporting during the 19th edition of the FiRe awards’ International Finance Reporting Standards trophy (IFRS), a testament that it had strengthened its financial reporting system.
Rolled-out as a joint initiative between the Capital Markets Authority (CMA), Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) and Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya (ICPAK), the Fire awards seek to strengthen financial markets and attract investment while helping business entities make sound financial decisions.
In a statement by the FiRe Award Executive Committee chairman and NSE Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Geoffery Odundo, the global market’s turmoil, occasioned by the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, calls for SACCOs to embark on sound financial reporting.
In a cautionary message to the entities, Capital Markets Authority (CMA) CEO Wycliffe Shamiah said regulated entities may risk falling behind due to the ongoing pandemic, hence the need to participate in economic recovery measures. Despite the possible risks, he said that the capital market’s
resilience is a reassurance that SACCOs still stand a chance for steady financial recovery. According to the SACCO Societies Regulatory Authority’s (Sasra’s) supervisory and framework of the SACCO subsector in Kenya report, tier one savings and credit cooperative societies, which the Kenya National Police DT SACCO falls under, seemed to attract savings at a faster rate compared to counterparts in lower tiers. In the spirit of the FiRe award’s objectives which include promoting financial reporting excellence, fostering sound corporate governance practices and enhancing corporate investment and environmental reporting, participating entities were required to submit copies of financial statements and annual reports for assessment.
Once received, the documents were categorized according to the respective entities before undergoing a rigorous evaluation process and constant review by qualified panelists, in line with three assessment areas; statement of financial position, changes in equity statement and statement of cash flows.
The disclosure framework ensures that SACCOs enhance capital market confidence levels, through accurate savings and investment decisions. The 2021 award was no different with the winner among cooperative societies, Kenya National Police DT SACCO which rose above the rest through transparent and honest financial reporting. According to the Public Sector Accounting Standards
Board’s report on the award’s prerequisites for evaluation, key analysis of the changes in financial statements from one year to the next is a healthy gauge for compliance trends.
However, SASRA’s annual supervisory report on DTSACCOs shows impressive growth in key performance parameters which point to a generally healthy sector.
Last year, the cooperative movement reported growth in key parameters with total assets growing by 12.75% to hit Kshs 627.68 billion. Total deposits, which stood at Kshs 380.44 billion in 2019, hit the Kshs 431.46 billion mark last year despite the pandemic’s squeeze.
Participating in the FiRe Award
Participation of SACCOs in the Fire Awards points to a sector that no longer shies away from scrutiny by putting their financial information under the lense even as they seek to use the critique to build firmer savings and credit cooperative societies.
According to IPSAS and IFRS standards, complying entities have experienced enhanced accountability and transparency in handling public funds, efficiency in businesses, benchmarking and information sharing. To keep abreast with the continuous developments in the cooperative movement, the call is now on SACCOs to seek feedback from the evaluation processes – the basis for future improvements