Good afternoon members and welcome to our 2022 AGM today as we converge again to review the organisation activities since our last AGM held last year. Since our last AGM many things have happened which include and are not limited to, a new government in Kenya, a new Prime Minister in UK, and a new head of state in the UK who is our King, His Majesty King Charles. We have also managed to finish paying off our last property of 8M at Amani Ridge in Kiambu which is a tremendous achievement.

May I take this opportunity to say what a great honour it is to serve this great organisation which we have all natured together since its birth in 2015 and to bring it where it is standing strong without a single debt and with assets members can be proud to talk about. May I thank you all for your dedication, courage, commitment, and desire to trust ourselves to invest and grow together in an environment blended with transparency, accountability and honesty which are the main pillars of our Sacco.

Allow me fellow members to congratulate and welcome the new government in Kenya of his Excellency Dr William Ruto and wish the new administration well as they embark on actualising their manifesto aimed at strengthening those at the lower echelons of the system in order to spur growth and popularly known as Bottom -Up strategy. When implemented, this strategy will put resources to the people at the bottom and which will in turn instil economic growth and create more value to our properties. As an organisation that can only thrive in a stable government, we belief that the manifesto of the new government will be key to our growth especially as they focus on defending the constitution by strengthening the judiciary, reshaping the executive to remove imperial presidency, and creating jobs through establishing industrial growth and strengthening medium, small, micro enterprises.

As explained in their manifesto the new government also promises to build affordable housing, improve healthcare, and strengthen the digital superhighway which sits well with our mission and vision at GFC Sacco. Our vision is to be a leading organisation that will empower and transform a generation by creating wealth together while our mission is to change a generation by creating a savings and investments culture. Our core values are learning, unity, democracy, honesty, innovation, good governance, accountability, and discipline.

Our properties

All properties owned by GFC Sacco are at very strategic places. The 5 plots in Kitengela are located at 10 minutes’ drive from Kitengela Town which is a vibrant town that has been elevated to a Municipality and which acts as a bedroom for those working in Nairobi Town. It is important to note that major feeder roads are being upgraded in Kitengela and these are pointers to the appreciation in value of our properties as will be evidenced in the treasurer’s report. Our plots are in fully gated community environments with solar street lights, care taker, murram roads, water, and most of the plots in this area are now built up and occupied with majority of those settling there building very nice houses with outstanding designs.

The last property that we have purchased with Optiven Ltd is a plot at Amani Ridge in Kiambu. The plot is in a gated community residence which has all the amenities of a gated community premises. This property is located 20 kms from Nairobi and is between Thika superhighway and Kiambu Road. The property is in a fast-growing area since it neighbours Tatu city and Nova Pioneer. In total we are proud to say that we now have 6 fully paid-up plots and 5 have tittle deeds and are in the process of acquiring the title deed for the sixth plot at Amani Ridge.

Fellow members since our formation in 2015 GFC has recorded tremendous growth as evidenced in our property portfolio. This growth has been as a result of trust and honesty built between shareholders and the executive. We are pleased to reiterate that as a growing organisation we would want to urge all shareholders to undertake within themselves the role of marketing this organisation. It is in this regard that we propose that each member undertakes a responsibility of recruiting 2 members each to expand our organisation and build more capital reserves. This can be set as SMART targets which can be reviewed after every 6 months from now.

Having fully paid off all our six plots we can now embark with the approval of members present moving to the next phase of building more wealth at GFC. We hereby propose and we are not limited to the following proposals subject to our deliberations today:

1. Proposal of buying large acreage of land in prime location and subdivide this into plots and sell them thereby creating profits
2. We can diversify our investments and decide to buy bonds and shares in large companies and later dispose them when they appreciate.
3. Build on our existing properties

The growth of any strong organisation is based on the ability of its members to communicate horizontally and vertically. For the last 7 years we have been in operation our communication has been very minimal. We propose to have a vibrant organisation where members communicate and therefore, we want to urge our members use our GFC website, https://gfcsacco.com as means of communication and engagement. Through these engagements members will be able to communicate with fellow members and the executive.

The main purpose of us coming together is to minimise the risks involved in individual investments and invest together in a successful manner. Together we can focus on reducing unnecessary borrowing, high overheads, unnecessary lending and focus on the success of the Sacco.

• Changing the way, we create wealth by always meeting to review as we do during AGM and in committee meetings is key in making sure we do not do the same thing expecting different results.
• We aim at improving on investments we already have, to build more wealth where we can use our assets as a springboard to the future of GFC.

You will agree with me members that by investing and growing together all these years we have become a small family – a family of people with one goal of enriching ourselves through investing together. It is however worth to note that while investments and wealth creation are key to our being together this organisation has also helped us to make new friendships, networks and has also brought a whole social transformation where together we have learnt new skills and made huge strides as individuals.

Allow me to also stress the fact that through our deliberations in the Sacco, research, and collaboration with likeminded organisations in Kenya we at GFC Sacco have been able to put our resources where they can experience growth that we can evidence.

The road to success is always under construction. We at GFC Sacco want to be this road and together we can. Thank you.

TFGFC Sacco Chairman

Peter Mwangi