Makau Mutua: Sh500 Hustler Fund can’t even get you a haircut
Azimio la Umoja Spokesperson Prof Makau Mutua has dismissed President William Ruto’s newly rolled Hustler Fund as too little even for a haircut.
Prof Mutua has also termed the amount of money Kenyans have been receiving through the Hustler Fund as an insult of the worst kind, sarcastically questioned what President Ruto’s administration had done for Kenyans.
“They (beneficiaries of the Hustler Fund) cannot even get their head shaved with Sh500,” Prof Mutua said in an interview.
Last month, Prof Mutua said the Hustler Fund would collapse as the government had no capacity to go after defaulters and the borrowers of the money have no ability to repay.
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“The government has no capacity, or political resolve, to go after defaulters of the so-called Hustler Fund, nor do most borrowers have the ability to repay. This is a witches’ brew that will turn the fund into nonsense on stilts. It will collapse in a heap of recriminations,” he tweeted.
Prof Mutua’s sentiments are shared by Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna who encouraged Kenyans to borrow the money saying there was no legal recourse for the government to come after them because of not paying back.
While the Kenya Kwanza affiliated politicians have been encouraging Kenyans to apply for the fund, politicians in the Azimio camp have continued to rubbish the fund.
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The Hustler Fund is a digital financial inclusion initiative launched by President Ruto aimed at providing access to credit for individuals and Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).
Individuals can borrow between Sh500 and Sh50,000 while MSMEs seeking capital of between Sh100, 000 and Sh5 million shillings would benefit from the fund beginning next month.
According to Simon Chelugui, the Cabinet Secretary Ministry of Co-operatives & MSMEs, the total amount disbursed by Monday 23rd January 2023 7:00 am was 15,706,077,869, total money repaid was almost half, 7,497,394,175 while repeat customers were around 5,605,704.
HUSTLER FUND UPDATES, 23 JANUARY, 2023
Update as at 7:00 AM
Amount disbursed= 15,706,077,869
Total Repayment= 7,497,394,175
Opted in customers = 18,346,471
Savings Account = 785,311,252
Total transactions= 26,378,371
Repeat customers= 5,605,704— Simon Kiprono Chelugui, EGH (@CsChelugui) January 23, 2023