How do I know if a Sacco is genuine?

A registration certificate on the wall can be entirely genuine and still be the wrong document. Registration establishes legal existence as a co-operative; it is not a rating, not an endorsement, and not authorisation to hold withdrawable deposits. Most societies without that licence are ordinary back-office Saccos doing exactly what they are entitled to do.

When you check the regulator’s list, match the full registered name rather than the brand on the signage, and note the date of the list you are reading, because licensing is continuing rather than permanent. Then look at the things a list cannot tell you: whether the annual general meeting happens, whether audited accounts are presented, and whether the board and the supervisory committee are genuinely different people.