NAIROBI, Kenya July 2 – The Cooperative Alliance of Kenya (CAK) has called on county governments to increase budget allocations towards the promotion and development of cooperative societies, citing their critical role in advancing food security, rural wealth creation, and financial inclusion.
Speaking during a media briefing ahead of the 2025 Ushirika Day celebrations, CAK CEO Daniel Marube emphasized that counties being constitutionally mandated to oversee cooperative development must prioritize the sector in their annual budgets.
“Counties should allocate more resources to support cooperative promotion, extension services, capacity building, good governance, and value addition,” said Marube.
He added that the United Nations has also urged member states to strengthen the cooperative model through adequate annual funding, aligning with the ongoing International Year of Cooperatives (IYC) under the theme “Cooperatives Build a Better World.”
Marube further appealed to the national government to enact progressive laws and provide stronger policy support to enhance the growth of cooperatives across the country.
Cooperatives continue to play a significant role in Kenya’s socio-economic development.
They enable access to affordable credit, support employment, and contribute to housing development, with entities like the Kenya Mortgage Refinancing Company recognizing their impact on affordable housing.
Cooperatives are expected to contribute up to 25 percent of affordable housing units nationwide.
In the lead-up to Ushirika Day, a blood donation drive will be held on Thursday, July 3, at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC), in collaboration with Kenyatta National Hospital and the Kenya National Blood Transfusion Service.
County-level celebrations are scheduled for Saturday, July 5, while the national celebrations and awards ceremony will take place in Nairobi on July 12.
Ushirika Day celebrates the resilience and contribution of cooperatives to national development, in line with the government’s Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA).
