Government clarifies Kopdes managers will not replace board roles

Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Ministry of Cooperatives (Kemenkop) has confirmed that the presence of managers in the Merah Putih Village/Urban Village Cooperatives (Kopdes/Kel) will not replace the roles of the board, but will instead solely handle operational management functions.

Assistant Deputy for Organisation and Legal Entities at Kemenkop, Try Aditya Putra, stated that the board, including permanent members, remains the primary mandate holder, as all strategic decisions lie with the member meetings as the highest authority in the cooperative.

“The manager’s duty is to manage, although in reality they do not directly eliminate the primary functions of the board,” Try said while attending the Annual Member Meeting (RAT) of the ANTARA News Agency Employee Services Cooperative (Kokantara) in Jakarta on Thursday.

The government previously opened recruitment for 30,000 Kopdes Merah Putih manager positions.

Agrinas Pangan Nusantara has been mandated as the party responsible for the physical development of Kopdes Merah Putih and will manage the cooperative for the first two years before handing it over to the board.

Try explained that the initial stage of recruiting 30,000 managers aligns with the operational plan for 30,000 Kopdes Merah Putih, scheduled to be inaugurated by the President in August.

Furthermore, Try emphasised that in the cooperative structure, the board remains above the manager, as it is responsible for executing the member meeting’s mandate, while the manager serves as the technical implementer in the field.

He added that in principle, the board does have management functions. However, in certain conditions where there are limitations in human resource capacity (SDM), the board may appoint a manager to assist with operations.

He noted that Kemenkop is currently preparing a cooperation scheme between the board and managers to ensure clear working relationships that remain aligned with cooperative governance principles.