“It can be done,” Solomon Angutsa reflects on his 13 years at KNPDTS

By Steve Umidha

The 50th anniversary of Kenya National Police Deposit Taking Sacco (KNPDTS) has given Solomon Angutsa the unique opportunity to reflect on his 13 years at the firm.

“Building KNPDTS hasn’t been easy. But it has been the most rewarding thing I’ve done professionally. I am proud of what we have achieved as a company, a team effort. It can be done,” opened up Mr. Angutsa in my recent chat with the soft-speaking CEO.

To him, good governance and the right leadership have been vital to Sacco’s rapid growth over the years – key ingredients he’s convinced have seen the country’s third-largest Sacco in asset base, soar exponentially.

Today, KNPDTS has a total asset worth over Sh47 billion with an Sh40 billion loan portfolio and a staggering Sh28 billion total deposits from its 70,731 members across the country. The Society was registered on 20th November 1972 with a membership of 690.

“Good governance and right leadership start from the members themselves since they have to be the first supporters of the Sacco – basically the patronage,” offers Angutsa – who also credits the firm’s success to the continuing Sacco’s membership engagement across the 47 Counties.

Further, the part-time farmer and financial advisor reckon that commitment to service delivery through customer engagement and digitalized facilities have also played a key role in advancing the company’s revenues.

Over the years, KNPDTS has continued to invest heavily in IT and IT-related uplifts to improve customer interaction with the company which he says has lessened physical interaction between the firm’s staff and the clients, who now opt for services such as M-Tawi – a mobile banking platform which enables its members to transact through their mobile phones at the comfort of their workplaces and homes.

Credit Rating to A-

In fact, such measures have seen South African rating agency Global Credit Ratings (GCR) in May this year upgrade the rating of Kenya National Police DT Sacco, citing good asset quality, healthy funding, and liquidity.

SA agency upgrades Police Sacco credit rating to A-

The agency said that it had raised Sacco’s long and short-term issuer ratings to “A-/A2 from “BBB+” previously and assigned it a positive outlook. This is an improvement from “BBB+/A2” which was assigned in June last year and “BBB/A3” the year before.

“The ratings on Kenya National Police Deposit Taking SACCO Society Limited reflect its robust capitalization, sound funding, and liquidity, and favorable asset quality relative to financial sector peers, counterbalanced by its limited competitive position in the context of the broader banking and financial institutions sector,” noting that the Sacco’s strong capital position was a key rating strength.

In its assessment of the firm, GCR expects KNPDT’s strong capital position to carry on into the long term, supported by stable growth in earnings and a sustainable dividend payout ratio of 17 percent per share capital.

The society’s dividend policy dictates that the dividends declared and approved by the board are the net surplus after retention of Sh1 billion or 20 percent of the net earnings and fulfillment of the capital adequacy requirements.

Police Sacco targets SMEs for growth

At the company, Angutsa says they do not do cookie cutters, “and we recognize that our customers are key to our success. Putting people first has been our recipe for success.”

Institutional capacity development

Picking the right talent in the right position is something Mr. Angutsa firmly believes has also gone a long way in improving the level of professionalism at the company, a strategy he simply refers to as institutional capacity development – which seeks to only hire on merit.

“Interviews have to be very competitive, otherwise you’ll get the wrong people. I’ve learned to recognize that everyone has the potential to be a star, and I’ve learned to align those stars to drive results for clients and for our business.

KNPDTS’ long-term goal, according to the CEO is to build an enduring firm.

“Because we’re not planning for an exit, I’ve learned that it’s important to celebrate every achievement along the way. I personally respond to every customer’s kudos that our teams receive and gladly shout out achievements like a “Best Place to Work” or a “Fastest Growing Sacco in Kenya” award.

Here at KNDPTS is about celebrating the journey, because the journey is all we have,” the proud Angutsa who has been a part of the company for 13 years affirms.

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His vision for KNPDTS is to see the brand eventually mammoths into not only a national trademark but also a continental marque.