The new head of the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) Twalib Mbarak on Wednesday revealed how a local bank forced him and his wife to take a HIV test before he could access a loan.
Mbarak was speaking at a ceremony to mark a new partnership between the EACC and the Saccos which he hailed as serving an important role in assisting Kenyans get savings and loan services.
The EACC boss recalled that banks have for the most part of Kenyan history been unapproachable, giving his own example when he needed a Sh700,000 loan from a bank.
“The bank asked me and my wife to take a HIV test and for a whole day I was HIV positive because in those days, there were no ARVs so you can imagine the trauma. The point is that the processes involved to get even a small loan were complicated and for us, saccos were the only savior,” he recalled.
Mbarak said EACC would protect Kenyans’ savings through the new partnership that will also include the Commissioner of Cooperatives.
The EACC boss said it was painful that many saccos are being looted and ruining the lives of many Kenyans.
“You can imagine you have saved for years and towards retirement, you are told that your sacco is going down. It is terrible,” he added.
The partnership comes at a time when flamboyant pastor David Kariuki Ngare, popularly known as Gakuyo is being probed over irregular withdrawals of members’ savings from Ekeza Sacco which has left it Sh 2.5 billion poorer.