U&M Housing Cooperative Society urges Kenyans, including mama mboga and boda boda riders, to embrace a savings culture, saying homeownership should no longer be the preserve of the wealthy and formally employed.
Children as young as 11 years can begin saving towards owning their dream homes, while small-scale traders, boda boda riders and other low-income earners can also become property owners by embracing a culture of saving, the chief executive of U&M Housing Cooperative Society Limited, Julius Odera, has said.
Odera said the cooperative had introduced junior savings accounts to encourage children to develop financial discipline from an early age and gradually invest towards homeownership, with the support of their parents.
Speaking during the official launch of U&M Housing Cooperative Society Limited in Kisumu on Friday, Odera said the initiative was aimed at challenging the perception that property ownership and housing investment were exclusively for wealthy individuals and people in formal employment.
He urged parents to introduce their children to saving at a tender age, arguing that cultivating the habit early would contribute to a stronger economy and improve financial security for future generations.
“We have deliberately introduced products that encourage our people to save, including junior savings accounts, where a child as young as 11 years can open an account through a parent and begin saving towards owning a dream home,” Odera said.
He said the cooperative was committed to making housing investment accessible to all Kenyans, regardless of their income levels or occupations, including mama mboga, boda boda riders and matatu operators.
“For a long time, the perception has been that housing is reserved for the rich and those in formal employment. We want to demystify that notion by bringing everyone into the journey, from mama mboga and boda boda riders to matatu drivers. Everybody has a place in this investment journey,” he said.
Odera encouraged Kenyans to join savings and credit cooperative societies (SACCOs), describing them as an accessible avenue for building financial capacity and achieving long-term investment goals.
He noted that members could start saving with as little as KSh50, insisting that consistent savings, regardless of the amount, could eventually translate into meaningful investments, including homeownership.
According to Odera, the cooperative has already established a membership base of approximately 7,500 across the country and is targeting more than 500 additional members through its expansion drive.
He said the institution’s ambition was to become Kenya’s leading housing cooperative within the next five years, with a long-term target of building an asset base worth KSh200 billion within a decade.
“We are in Kisumu to engage our members and help them understand that we can only realise our dreams through investment in housing cooperatives, whether in homes or income-generating properties that secure our families today and in the future,” he revealed.
“Our vision is to make this institution the biggest cooperative in Kenya within the next five years. Our long-term ambition is to achieve an asset base of KSh200 billion within 10 years,” he added.
One of the cooperative’s members, Ben Obera, shared his experience, saying consistent saving had enabled him to acquire a plot in Nyalenda, Kisumu, where he plans to construct an apartment for commercial purposes.
Obera said he began saving in 2019 after joining a group initially formed around waste management activities in Kisumu. Although some members eventually dropped out, he maintained his savings discipline and is now planning to secure a loan to finance his construction project.
He said the cooperative’s lending model, which allows members to access loans equivalent to four or five times their savings, had strengthened his confidence in the institution and its investment opportunities.
“I started saving in 2019 when we joined as a group involved in waste management. I have remained consistent even as some members dropped out. I have already bought a plot in Nyalenda, where I intend to construct an apartment for business,” Obera said.
He encouraged Kisumu residents to embrace the cooperative’s savings model, saying it offered an opportunity for ordinary citizens to accumulate wealth and invest in property.
