The Effect of Corporate Governance Practices on Performance of Deposit Taking Savings and Credit Cooperative Societies in Kiambu County, Kenya

Abstract

Corporate governance is regarded as the key foundation upon which organizations are more productive, better managed and controlled. Performance has a link to good corporate governance for the sustainable organizational success. This project narrowed down specifically to the factor of corporate governance to determine the practice of corporate governance in SACCOs in Kiambu County, Kenya. The researcher used a descriptive survey design in soliciting information on the practice of corporate governance in SACCOs in Kiambu County, Kenya. The research also made use of both secondary and primary data. Secondary data was collected from statistical data available from the SASRA records and those from the Ministry of Cooperatives. Primary data was obtained by use of a closed ended questionnaire administered on senior managers of the sampled SACCOs. The target population was 8 deposit taking SACCOs and a total population of 200 SACCO managers in Kiambu County, Kenya. Each SACCO had a different number of respondents depending on its size and the number of senior managers in it.  Data analysis was done using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) to generate quantitative reports which is presented in this project in the form of tabulations, percentages and descriptive statistics and inferential data computed using a regression equation. The findings of this project are that the practices of corporate governance have a direct effect on the overall performance of SACCOs in Kiambu County, Kenya contributing to 70% of the factors affecting performance. Recommendations put forward from the findings of this project is that there is need to research on the effect of corporate governance on performance of other institutions such as commercial banks, microfinance institutions and small and medium enterprises. The findings of the research include the finding that majority of those in senior positions in the SAACOs sampled are men at 64% of the sample size while women are at 36%. Another finding of the research is that majority of those in senior management positions are persons aged between 40 and 59 years. The research further brought out the fact that majority of the respondents comprising of 39% had held their current position for a period of between 4 and 6 years while 42% of the respondents had worked in the SACCO for a period of between 10 and 12 years. One of the recommendations from the research is on the need to have increased disclosure of information to the shareholders. A further recommendation was the need to train the board of governance often on corporate governance so as to better equip them to uphold the practice in their respective SAACOs. A final recommendation is the need for further research by other scholars.