President William Ruto has strongly defended the Hustler Fund following a damning report that called for its scrapping.
Speaking on Wednesday, August 6, during a private sector roundtable, the President dismissed the criticism and said the fund has played a big role in supporting Small, Medium, and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs) across the country.
The Hustler Fund, launched in 2022 with a starting amount of Ksh50 billion, has faced mounting criticism, especially from a recent report titled “Failing the Hustlers” released by the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC).
Despite the backlash, Ruto stood firm, stating that while the fund isn’t perfect, it continues to bring real benefits to millions of Kenyans.
Ruto noted that the fund helps ordinary citizens build their creditworthiness, making it easier for them to access more money in the future. “Under the Hustler Fund, your credit behavior becomes your security,” the President said. “It is what qualifies you to get a bigger loan next time.”
He added that the fund has introduced a new way of borrowing, especially for those who don’t own property or formal assets, but who have proven themselves to be responsible borrowers.
He pointed out that over 650,000 Kenyans have so far benefited from the Hustler Fund’s bridge loan product.
Furthermore, he revealed that the government now has access to the credit history of 26 million Kenyans thanks to the fund, and this has made it possible to create alternative methods of accessing credit without relying on traditional forms of collateral like logbooks or title deeds.
“Banks are now beginning to take in customers who have passed through the Hustler Fund system,” Ruto said. “They may not have the usual forms of security, but they are disciplined in how they repay their loans and they are serious entrepreneurs.”
Ruto also challenged the figures in the KHRC report, which stated that 68 percent of loans had defaulted. He disagreed with this number, saying the repayment rate for the Hustler Fund actually stands at 83 percent.
He went on to accuse the KHRC of being out of touch with the struggles of ordinary Kenyans. According to Ruto, the report was written by people in “Nairobi and posh hotels” who don’t understand the real lives of people who are using the fund to support their businesses.
“I want to remind my friends in the capital that millions of Kenyans now have a chance to borrow money thanks to this fund,” he said. “Many of these borrowers, even those taking loans as small as Ksh5,000 or Ksh10,000, have managed to save a total of Ksh5 billion over the past three years.”
The KHRC, in their report, claimed that by the end of 2022, the fund had a default rate of 68.3 percent.
This means that for every Ksh500 loan issued, Ksh340 was never recovered. The commission also pointed out that their analysis did not even include the cost of running the fund, such as technology, staffing, and infrastructure, which they argued would make the financial loss even greater.
According to their estimates, about 71.5 percent of the total loans issued through the Hustler Fund are not likely to be recovered at all.
Ruto’s remarks came just a day after Co-operatives Cabinet Secretary Wycliffe Oparanya also came out to defend the fund. Oparanya accused the KHRC of misrepresenting facts, and claimed the group had misused information from the 2022/2023 Auditor General’s report.
He said many of the issues raised in that report are still under review and haven’t been fully resolved.
In conclusion, both the President and his Cabinet Secretary argued that despite its challenges, the Hustler Fund remains a critical tool for empowering low-income Kenyans and helping them access capital for business growth and financial independence.
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