Nairobi — Members of the National Assembly have opened a new battlefront in the disbursement and management of the proposed Hustlers’ Fund.
The MPs who were debating President William Ruto’s address to Parliament said the Sh50 billion annual kitty will be most effective if placed under the National-Government Constituency Development Fund (NG-CDF) instead of the newly formed Ministry of Micro-Small Medium Enterprises.
MPs Gitonga Murugara (Tharaka), Rahim Dawood (North Imenti), and Elisha Odhiambo (Gem) argue that NG-CDF track record in transforming society speaks for itself and will help Ruto’s Government avoid the pitfalls of similar, well-intentioned plans such as the Uwezo Fund, and the Youth Enterprise Development Fund.
“We can be able to allocate that Sh50 billion and make sure that Kenyans can access affordable credit,” Pukose said.
Dawood added; “we will need to replicate the Hustlers Fund so that it would be probably based within the MPs Office so that we reduce the paperwork and it would be much, much better and easier to maintain and manage.”
The Legislators from both sides of the House expressed their support of the Hustlers Fund adding that their proposal only seeks to ensure its success, transparency and accountability must be the norm.
“It is important to be clear whether the Hustlers Fund is going to be given as a grant or as an interest-free support to the hustlers because most citizens believe that this Hustlers Fund is for free, then the leaders from the Cooperatives and MSMEs Ministry will have a problem in recovering the Hustlers Fund,” said the Gem MP.
In proposing the Fund during the campaigns, President Ruto explained it intends to fill a gap currently not met by existing financial institutions.