Calculate your chama's merry-go-round payout schedule, or project how your group's pooled savings grow if invested — enter the number of members and contribution amount, then switch modes to match how your chama actually runs.
What Is a Chama in Kenya?
A chama is an informal group of members who pool fixed contributions on a regular schedule — weekly, biweekly, or monthly — for one of two purposes: rotating the full pot to one member per round (a merry-go-round), or building a shared fund that the group invests together for long-term growth. This calculator handles both.
How Is a Merry-Go-Round Payout Calculated?
A merry-go-round payout equals the contribution per member multiplied by the number of members, since every member pays the same amount into the pot each round and one member collects it all. A 12-member chama contributing KES 2,000 each produces a KES 24,000 payout per round.
How Long Does a Full Merry-Go-Round Cycle Take?
A full cycle runs for as many rounds as there are members, because every member has to receive one payout before the rotation repeats. A 12-member chama meeting monthly completes its full cycle in 12 months; the same group meeting weekly finishes in 12 weeks.
Because every member pays the same contribution every round, the total each member pays in over a full cycle equals the single payout they receive — a merry-go-round doesn't grow the group's money, it reorders when each member gets access to a lump sum built from everyone's contributions.
How Does Investment Growth Mode Work?
Investment Growth mode treats the chama as a joint fund rather than a rotation: it multiplies the number of members by the monthly contribution to get the group's total monthly deposit, then compounds that fund monthly at the annual growth rate you enter — the same way a bank fixed deposit, Money Market Fund, or SACCO share account would grow a lump sum plus regular top-ups.
Enter the growth rate your chama's actual investment pays — whichever account, fund, or SACCO the group's treasurer has put the money into — since there is no single official rate for chama investments.
Is a Chama Merry-Go-Round Payout Taxed in Kenya?
No. A merry-go-round payout is simply members' own pooled contributions redistributed to each other in turn, not income earned by the group, so KRA does not tax it. Tax only applies once the pooled fund is invested and earns interest or dividends — that return is taxed the same way any other investment income is, at the rate that applies to whichever instrument the chama holds.
What Does "Show Working" Reveal?
In Merry-Go-Round mode, "Show Working" lists every round with that round's payout and the running totals — total distributed by the group and your own cumulative contribution — so you can see exactly where the cycle stands at any point. In Investment Growth mode, it shows a month-by-month table of the fund's opening balance, that month's deposit and interest, and the closing balance, the same build-up a treasurer's ledger would show.
Should a Chama Register as a SACCO or Self-Help Group?
A small merry-go-round group doesn't need to register with anyone to operate. Once a chama starts holding a joint bank account, taking on more structured savings, or lending to members, most groups register as a self-help group with the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection, or incorporate as a company limited by guarantee, mainly to open a bank account in the group's name and give office bearers legal standing. Only chamas that grow into deposit-taking institutions — mobilising savings and issuing loans at scale — fall under SASRA's SACCO regulation; ordinary contribution-based chamas do not.
How much does each member get in a chama merry-go-round?
Each round's payout equals the contribution per member multiplied by the number of members in the chama. A 15-member chama contributing KES 1,500 each per round produces a KES 22,500 payout for whichever member's turn it is.
What happens if a chama member misses a contribution?
This calculator assumes every member contributes in full every round, which is how most merry-go-rounds are meant to run. In practice, groups handle a missed contribution differently — some deduct it from that member's eventual payout, others fine the member or require they pay double the following round — so check your own chama's constitution for its specific rule.
Is money invested by a chama taxed in Kenya?
Yes, once the pooled fund is invested. Interest or dividends the chama's fund earns — from a bank fixed deposit, Money Market Fund, SACCO shares, or listed shares — is taxed the same way it would be for an individual investor holding that same instrument. The merry-go-round payout itself is not taxed, since it's just members' own contributions being redistributed.
What's the difference between a merry-go-round and table banking?
A merry-go-round rotates the full pooled pot to one member per round, in turn, until every member has received a payout. Table banking instead keeps the pooled fund in the group's treasury and lets members borrow from it at an agreed interest rate, repaying with interest — growing the group's fund over time rather than just rotating it.