The government has ordered all cooperative societies with more than 5,000 members to restructure their governance systems by adopting a delegate model of representation in their general meetings.
David K. Obonyo, the Commissioner for Cooperative Development, issued a directive requiring the impacted cooperatives to make the adjustments within six months of June 18, 2025.
The goal of the revisions is to streamline decision-making procedures in big cooperatives, which have had trouble efficiently overseeing their expanding memberships.
Cooperatives must implement a delegate system with 150–500 representatives in accordance with the new regulations.
Create clear communication channels to guarantee frequent updates to the general membership and modify their bylaws to formally define the delegate system.
The action, which is supported by Rule 54 and Section 93A(c) of the Cooperative Societies Act, is a component of broader initiatives to improve accountability and efficiency in Kenya’s cooperative sector.
“Some cooperatives have witnessed remarkable growth, reflecting public confidence in the cooperative model. However, this growth has also created challenges in holding effective general meetings,” noted Obonyo in Circular No. CCD/2025/001.
Since general meetings are essential to the democratic operation and governance of cooperative societies, the commissioner underlined that cooperatives must move quickly to comply.
