EFFECTIVENESS OF LICENSING REGULATIONS ON GROWTH OF DEPOSIT TAKING SAVINGS AND CREDT CO-OPERATIVES IN MT. KENYA REGION

SACCOs for quite a long period of time have been seen as panacea to alleviate poverty in the society through financial inclusion. Licensing regulation was established to prudently control and regulate SACCOs’ joining the Deposit Taking business. The aim of the current study was to establish the effectiveness of licensing regulation on growth of Deposit Taking SACCOs in Mt. Kenya region. Descriptive research design and inferential statistics were used in the study. The study targeted 54 Chief Executive Officers/Managers in Mt. Kenya region as respondents. Census study was undertaken and questionnaire was employed to collect primary data. Secondary data was obtained from SACCO Society Regulatory Authority annual supervision reports. Quantitative data analysis was done for numerical data obtained from the field. This was carried out using descriptive statistics by use of statistical Package of Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 25. Tables were used to present the results. Regressions were used to test the research hypothesis for turnover against licensing regulations to determine the association among the study variable. The study concluded that there was negative and statistically significant correlation between licensing regulation and growth of SACCOs in Mt. Kenya Region. The study recommends that SACCOs need to adhere to all the licensing regulations as spelt out in the SACCO society’s Act. Further the study recommends review of the licensing regulations by the government through SASRA to save witnessed decline of SACCO and bring more entities onboard as SACCOs for sustainable financial inclusion. Keywords: Licensing Regulation, Deposit Taking Savings and Credit Cooperative Societies, Growth

Maternal and neonatal outcomes after caesarean delivery in the African Surgical Outcomes Study: a 7-day prospective observational cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Maternal and neonatal mortality is high in Africa, but few large, prospective studies have been done to investigate the risk factors associated with these poor maternal and neonatal outcomes. METHODS: A 7-day, international, prospective, observational cohort study was done in patients having caesarean delivery in 183 hospitals across 22 countries in Africa. The inclusion criteria were all consecutive patients (aged ≥18 years) admitted to participating centres having elective and non-elective caesarean delivery during the 7-day study cohort period. To ensure a representative sample, each hospital had to provide data for 90% of the eligible patients during the recruitment week. The primary outcome was in-hospital maternal mortality and complications, which were assessed by local investigators. The study was registered on the South African National Health Research Database, number KZ_2015RP7_22, and on ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT03044899. FINDINGS: Between February, 2016, and May, 2016, 3792 patients were recruited from hospitals across Africa. 3685 were included in the postoperative complications analysis (107 missing data) and 3684 were included in the maternal mortality analysis (108 missing data). These hospitals had a combined number of specialist surgeons, obstetricians, and anaesthetists totalling 0·7 per 100 000 population (IQR 0·2-2·0). Maternal mortality was 20 (0·5%) of 3684 patients (95% CI 0·3-0·8). Complications occurred in 633 (17·4%) of 3636 mothers (16·2-18·6), which were predominantly severe intraoperative and postoperative bleeding (136 [3·8%] of 3612 mothers). Maternal mortality was independently associated with a preoperative presentation of placenta praevia, placental abruption, ruptured uterus, antepartum haemorrhage (odds ratio 4·47 [95% CI 1·46-13·65]), and perioperative severe obstetric haemorrhage (5·87 [1·99-17·34]) or anaesthesia complications (11·47 (1·20-109·20]). Neonatal mortality was 153 (4·4%) of 3506 infants (95% CI 3·7-5·0). INTERPRETATION: Maternal mortality after caesarean delivery in Africa is 50 times higher than that of high-income countries and is driven by peripartum haemorrhage and anaesthesia complications. Neonatal mortality is double the global average. Early identification and appropriate management of mothers at risk of peripartum haemorrhage might improve maternal and neonatal outcomes in Africa. FUNDING: Medical Research Council of South Africa.Medical Research Council of South Africa