Abstract:
The importance of Savings and Credit Cooperatives (SACCOs) cannot be underestimated. Despite their
importance, they are faced with numerous challenges among them financial distress which threatens
their very existence. The current research sought to establish the role of board characteristics in the
financial distress suffered by Deposit Taking SACCOs in Nairobi County. The study is anchored inter
alia on Agency Theory. Descriptive research design was adopted while Nairobi County was purposively
chosen and a census was carried out on deposit taking SACCOs in the county. Secondary data was
collected from SASRA using a data collection sheet and a panel data analysis performed using STATA
software. The findings were presented using tables. The study concluded that there was a relationship
between board characteristics and financial distress of Deposit Taking SACCOs where board
composition, board education and board tenure have statistically significant and negative influence on
financial distress. In conclusion SACCOs need to have lean boards, Board composition should also be
improved by including more women on boards, there should be more inclusion of members with high
and relevant education credentials, and SACCOs should have term limits for their members while an
analysis too based on the Altman’s Z score models should be adopted for SACCOs. Another research
may be carried out to establish other factors causing financial distress and how to turn around the
SACCOs already in distress.
