Hustler Fund is nothing but RUTO’s version of Fuliza – Former Mandera Senator BILLOW KERROW says.

 

Tuesday, November 29, 2022 – Former Mandera County Senator Billow Kerrow has faulted President William Ruto’s administration’s plan to issue loans to Kenyans under the Financial Inclusion Fund, popularly known as the Hustler Fund.

Instead, Kerrow says the loans should be granted if at all the Kenya Kwanza government is out to help boost millions of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) that are looking forward to benefiting from the facility.

Speaking during an interview on Spice FM Monday, Kerrow stated that the main challenge in such a scheme is the uptake and accessibility to the loans.

He added that most of those targeted will not meet the eligibility requirements that include registration.

“The government should focus on the SMEs who form 80 percent of the job sector in Kenya. These are business people who cannot access loans from banks because of so many reasons. According to the Central Bank report in 2021, 20 percent of the total lending of all the banks went to SMEs which translates to around Sh30b to Sh40b.

Kerrow, who also served as the Chair of the Senate Finance and Budget Committee added that this is not the first time the government is issuing funds to Kenyans, warning that the modalities remain the same save for the brand names given to the loan schemes.

“In 2021, former President Uhuru Kenyatta launched another fund called Biashara Kenya Fund which was Sh2.5 billion. Earlier in 2020, he had launched another scheme, the Credit Guarantee Scheme worth Sh12 Billion where the government was guaranteeing 25 percent of any lending to SMEs by banks. But the uptake was only Sh 4billion in 3 years,” Kerrow said

The former lawmaker concluded by saying Hustler fund is nothing but Ruto’s version of the ‘Fuliza loan’