The Cabinet Secretary nominee for Co-operatives and Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises Development Wycliffe Oparanya has changed the tune on President William Ruto’s Hustler Fund.
Speaking when appearing before the committee on appointment on Sunday, August 4, 2024, Oparanya revealed that he was against the fund because back then he had no facts about it.
The CS nominee further stated that if the hustler fund is well managed, it would create income and improve the country’s economy.
“I was among the people who opposed the Hustler Fund because I had not known the facts until now that I had been briefed. I think this fund, if well managed, is a fund that will take our people from poverty,” Oparanya said.
The Azimio legislature noted that the fund was launched in a hurry without a proper legal structure, thus affecting its operation.
He added that the money allocated by the Treasury towards the Hustler Fund has tripled.
“The only problem is that it was launched in a hurry without a proper legal structure in place, and in the process, the Treasury allocated Ksh13 billion, and because of borrowing again and again, the turnover has gone to Ksh55 billion, and out of the Ksh55 billion, 21 million people have been involved in the repeating borrowing, ” Oparanya added.
The former Kakamega County Governor describes the initiative as a revolving fund, adding that with a proper digital infrastructure in place, they would be able to recover funds from the defaulters.
“In the process, they have been able to recover Ksh 43 billion; it is a revolving fund. There is Ksh 12 billion, which has not been recovered, but there is a very strong digital infrastructure where they can determine where the 12 billion is. The only problem is that there is no legal framework to recover that particular money,” he said.
He added that fund intentions align with Ruto’s bottom-up economic agenda, which was supposed to address the market failure at the lowest pyramid.
“I must admit the intention was very good because this fund was supposed to address market failure at the lowest level of the lowest pyramid,” Oparanya said.
The former governor had earlier publicly pronounced the fund, especially before the 2022 general elections.
Wycliffe Oparanya: I was among the people who opposed the Hustler Fund because I had not known the facts until now that I have been briefed. The only problem is that it was launched in a hurry.#K24Siasa pic.twitter.com/7Qsp4yMkIz
— K24 TV (@K24Tv) August 4, 2024
