Editor's Review

Previously, the Cabinet Secretary said that he would go after the defaulters.

Cooperatives Cabinet Secretary Wycliffe Oparanya has affirmed that the government is not planning to list Kenyans who have defaulted the Hustler Fund loans on the Credit Reference Bureau (CRB).  

Speaking during an interview on Thursday, September 5, Oparanya noted that the government was exploring other ways to recover the funds.  

He explained that the government did not want to disrupt the businesses of defaulters, as it preferred them to continue operating. 

“We haven’t gotten there yet. You know the President said these are hustlers. We want to see how we will talk to them slowly and then they pay. We also don’t want to destroy their business life. We want them to continue doing business,” Oparanya remarked. 

The CS maintained that the government was exploring using chiefs and assistant chiefs to reach the defaulters.

File image of CS Wycliffe Oparanya.

"We want to use other ways such as having chiefs or assistant chiefs talk to them about the benefits of the Hustler Fund because, as I have said, we know where they come from," he added.

On August 23, Oparanya disclosed that 21 million Kenyans borrowed money from the Hustler Fund, with 19 million of them disappearing without repaying the loans.

The CS announced that he would go after the defaulters. 

“This is public money which should be borrowed and repaid so that other people benefit from it. For those 19 million, I am coming for you to make sure that you pay so that others can benefit,” he stated.