Community Health Volunteers (CHV) in Kakamega have formed a Sacco known as 037 CHVs Sacco to support their existing Self Help groups.
Kakamega Governor Wycliffe Oparanya and County Women Representative Elsie Muhanda have injected Sh. 1million and Sh. 50 000 seed money in the Sacco respectively.
The Women rep has also applied to be a patron for the Sacco and registered as one of its members. She urged the CHVs to take advantage of the Sacco to improve their lives and continue serving Kenyans through their voluntary services.
She noted that her experience in helping stabilize Kakamega County Maendeleo Sacco (KACOMA), which has listed more than 2000 boda boda riders, will be of help to the newly formed Sacco.
“I am just the patron of KACOMA. Every constituency has a director with 12 of them spread across the county. I only attend the Annual General Meeting(AGM) as the patron and do not interfere with its affairs,” she noted.
Each CHV member will be contributing Sh350 per month which will go towards the Sacco. The Chairperson of CHVs in Kakamega Kevin Mpapale said the county has approximately 4250 CHVs.
In terms of governance, the county is divided into Community Health Units (CUs) with 10 CHVs in every unit. Every unit has its leadership called a lead CHV. The CHVs cover over 100 households in the county.
“We have an organized structure which we have verified and has a vision despite the challenges we encounter,” he said.
They receive a stipend of Sh2000 per month in addition to other benefits from different Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs).
The county has 425 CUs which are registered as Self Help Groups out of the 4250 CHVs in Kakamega. “We found out that self-help groups are not enough for us. We need an umbrella Sacco that is in charge of the 425 registered self-help groups,” he said.
