Did Standard Group Deduct More Than KSh200 Million from Employees and Fail to Remit?
Standard Group offices with a banner written: Were Ksh 200 million SACCO deductions not Remitted?
By Kollea News Investigations
For thousands of employees, a SACCO is more than a savings cooperative. It provides access to affordable credit, emergency support, investment opportunities and a structured way to save for the future.
At Standard Group PLC, however, questions have emerged over the handling of employee SACCO deductions, with documents and information reviewed by Kollea News pointing to outstanding amounts that may exceed KSh200 million.
The amounts relate to deductions made from employees' salaries for two staff SACCOs over a period of more than three years, but which, according to documents and sources familiar with the matter, were not fully remitted to the respective SACCOs.
If established, the situation would have significant consequences for employees whose payslips showed deductions while the corresponding funds were reportedly not credited to their SACCO accounts.
The matter raises questions about the management of employee deductions, corporate accountability and the protection of workers' earnings.
Two Staff SACCOs, One Common Dispute
Standard Group employees belong to two separate SACCOs.
Employees working for KTN and other broadcast divisions save through Network SACCO, while employees working for the Standard newspaper, print production and other departments are members of Standard SACCO.
In both cases, employees authorised deductions from their monthly salaries with the expectation that the money would subsequently be remitted to their respective SACCOs. Documents reviewed by Kollea News indicate that both SACCOs entered into separate settlement agreements with Standard Group in February 2024 over outstanding employee deductions.
Information obtained by Kollea News indicates that the amounts outstanding to the two SACCOs have since increased, with the combined figure now estimated to exceed KSh200 million.
Network SACCO: From KSh92 Million to More Than KSh120 Million
On February 20, 2024, Network SACCO and Standard Group entered into a settlement agreement concerning outstanding employee contributions. The agreement recorded an acknowledgement by Standard Group of an outstanding amount of KSh92,350,927.70 as at the time of the agreement.
It states: "The 2nd Party (Standard Group PLC) acknowledges defaulting in making payment of its employees' contributions to the 1st Party (Network Sacco) amounting to a total of Kenya Shillings Ninety-Two Million, Three Hundred Fifty Thousand Nine Hundred Twenty-Seven and Seventy Cents (KSh92,350,927.70)."
The agreement provided for an immediate payment of KSh1 million, followed by monthly payments of KSh1 million until the outstanding amount was cleared, subject to review by mutual agreement.
However, information obtained by Kollea News from sources familiar with the matter indicates that the repayment arrangement was not implemented as anticipated. According to the same sources, the amount outstanding to Network SACCO has since risen to more than KSh120 million.
Network SACCO's Audited Accounts Provide Further Evidence
The financial position of Network SACCO provides further documentary evidence of the scale and impact of the deductions dispute. According to Network SACCO's audited financial statements for the financial year ended December 31, 2024, seen by Kollea News, the SACCO's member deposit liability stood at KSh109 million.
The auditors, Njagi and Associates, Certified Public Accountants of Kenya, raised concerns over the impact of unremitted employer deductions on the SACCO's financial position and operations.
In their report dated March 20, 2025, the auditors stated that unremitted employer deductions had increased from KSh94 million to KSh109 million, creating significant cash-flow challenges for the SACCO.
The auditors further reported that the cash-flow constraints had affected the SACCO's core business. According to the audit report, Network SACCO had been unable to issue new loans to members since November 2022.
The finding is significant because access to affordable credit is one of the principal services for which employees join SACCOs. A prolonged inability to issue new loans therefore potentially affects members well beyond the question of their individual savings balances.
The auditors also reported that the employer had not honoured several payment agreements reached with the SACCO, including arrangements involving monthly standing orders intended to clear the outstanding deductions.
The audited accounts therefore provide a documented indication that the problem was not merely an isolated disagreement over accounting balances, but had a material effect on the SACCO's liquidity and ability to conduct its core business.
Kollea News has not established whether the KSh109 million employer deduction figure in the audited accounts represents the same balance as the more than KSh120 millioncurrently reported by sources. The figures relate to different reporting periods and should therefore not be treated as interchangeable.
What is clear from the audited accounts is that, as at December 31, 2024, the auditors were already reporting KSh109 million in unremitted employer deductions, up from KSh94 million, and linking the shortfall directly to serious cash-flow challenges.
Earlier Recovery Efforts
The dispute over Network SACCO deductions predates the 2024 settlement agreement. Kollea News has obtained an agency notice issued by the Commissioner for Cooperative Development, David K. Obonyo, dated May 2, 2023. The document shows that the SACCO had sought regulatory intervention in an effort to recover outstanding employee contributions.
The subsequent February 2024 settlement agreement indicates that the parties later attempted to resolve the matter through an agreed repayment arrangement. However, the extent to which that arrangement was implemented now remains a central issue in the dispute.
The auditors' subsequent findings that several payment agreements had not been honoured add another layer to questions surrounding the implementation of the repayment arrangements.
Employees Say They Cannot Access Their Savings
The reported dispute has had consequences for SACCO members. Information obtained by Kollea News indicates that Network SACCO's membership has taken a significant hit, declining from approximately 400 members to about 100.
Sources familiar with the matter further indicate that more than 200 members who have applied to withdraw from the SACCO have experienced difficulties accessing their savings.
According to information provided to Kollea News, some affected employees have also experienced difficulties accessing loans, settling existing facilities or using savings they expected to have accumulated through their monthly deductions.
The auditors' finding that Network SACCO had been unable to issue new loans since November 2022 provides further context to members' complaints about access to credit.
AGM Delay Raises Further Questions
Network SACCO is also yet to hold another Annual General Meeting (AGM), according to information available to Kollea News. Sources familiar with the SACCO's affairs indicate that the cooperative's financial difficulties have contributed to the delay.
Kollea News has not independently established whether the reported delay is solely attributable to the deductions dispute. However, the absence of a further AGM comes against the backdrop of audited accounts documenting serious liquidity challenges and unresolved employer deductions.
Standard SACCO Faces a Similar Dispute
A similar dispute exists between Standard Group and Standard SACCO. On February 20, 2024, the company and Standard SACCO entered into a separate settlement agreement concerning outstanding employee deductions. The agreement recorded an outstanding amount of KSh89,919,319.67 as at December 31, 2023.
As with Network SACCO, the agreement provided for an immediate payment of KSh1 million, followed by monthly instalments of KSh1 million until the outstanding amount was cleared.
Information obtained by Kollea News indicates that the repayment arrangement was not fully implemented and that the amount currently outstanding to Standard SACCO may have risen to more than KSh120 million.
Kollea News has not independently audited the current Standard SACCO balance and therefore presents the figure as an amount reported by sources familiar with the matter.
Taken together, the reported outstanding balances to the two SACCOs now exceed KSh200 million.
The figure should therefore be understood as the amount reported by sources and reflected in information reviewed by Kollea News, rather than as an independently audited determination of Standard Group's current liability.
A Pattern of Unremitted Deductions?
The Network SACCO audit findings raise a broader question: how long have employees been having money deducted from their salaries without the corresponding funds reaching the SACCOs?
The February 2024 settlement agreements show that the problem had already reached tens of millions of shillings by the end of 2023.
Network SACCO's audited accounts then documented unremitted employer deductions of KSh109 million as at December 31, 2024, with auditors warning that the situation was creating significant cash-flow difficulties.
The auditors' statement that several payment agreements had not been honoured also raises questions about whether negotiated mechanisms intended to resolve the problem were effective.
For employees, the issue is not simply an accounting dispute. A deduction appearing on a payslip creates an expectation that the money has been transferred to its intended destination. Where that does not happen, employees may find themselves unable to access savings, obtain loans or benefit from financial arrangements they believed they were funding every month.
Part of a Wider Employment Dispute
The SACCO dispute comes against the backdrop of broader concerns raised by current and former Standard Group employees over the past three years. Employees have reported instances of lengthy salary delays and salary arrears, while some former employees have continued to pursue outstanding terminal benefits following voluntary early retirement programmes and retrenchments.
The SACCO issue therefore forms part of a wider set of questions being raised by employees and former employees about the company's handling of employee-related financial obligations.
Kollea News' Commitment
Kollea News is an advocacy journalism platform committed to exposing injustice, advancing accountability and amplifying the concerns of workers and other communities whose voices may otherwise receive limited attention.
Our reporting on this matter is based on documents reviewed by Kollea News and information provided by sources familiar with the dispute.
The documents reviewed include the February 2024 settlement agreements between Standard Group and the two SACCOs, a May 2023 agency notice issued by the Commissioner for Cooperative Development, and Network SACCO's audited financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2024.
We sought comment from Standard Group PLC and gave the company an opportunity to respond to the SACCO agreements, the reported outstanding balances, the implementation of the repayment arrangements and the issues raised by the Network SACCO audit.
The company did not provide any response within the deadline provided.
For transparency, Kollea News has published the Right of Reply letter sent to Standard Group PLC, which can be accessed [HERE].
Should Standard Group PLC provide a substantive response, Kollea News remains prepared to consider and publish its position in keeping with the principles of fairness, accuracy and the right of reply.
The figures and allegations contained in this report should be read in that context.
Kollea News does not present disputed claims as established findings and does not make a determination of legal liability.
What the available documents do show, however, is that the dispute over employee SACCO deductions has persisted for several years, reached tens of millions of shillings by the end of 2023, and, in the case of Network SACCO, was serious enough for independent auditors in 2025 to document KSh109 million in unremitted employer deductions and significant cash-flow consequences for the cooperative.
The question now is not only how much money remains outstanding, but why employee deductions were not fully remitted, what happened to the money, and when affected employees will be able to access the savings and financial services they were paying for.
