Auditor General Nancy Gathungu has exposed that Husler Fund gave loans amounting to Ksh31 million to Kenyans under 18.
In her annual report on National Government Funds for the 2023/2024 Financial Year, Gathungu exposed two circumstances where loans were issued to underage Kenyans.
Kenyans Born in the Future
In one instance, loans were credited to people who were born in the 'future'. In this case, while the audit period covered loans dispatched between July 2023 and June 2024, it was noted that some of the beneficiaries had their birthdates starting from July 1, 2024, to December 31, 2073.
According to the report, Ksh31,135,690 was credited to the accounts registered on Safaricom, Airtel and Telkom.
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Kenyans Below 18
Additionally, the report detailed that Ksh681,395 was issued to Kenyans who were aged between 10 days and 18 years.
Consequently, owing to the disbursements, the auditor questioned whether President William Ruto's government would be able to recover the loans.
"The records are therefore unreliable and the resultant data in the systems may not have adequate controls. In these circumstances, loan agreements with underage individuals are potentially unenforceable and increase the likelihood of default," read the report in part.
Loan Defaults
Equally, the report noted a high level of non-performing loans. According to the report, the outstanding loan repayments at the time of the report was Ksh8 billion - which was 64 per cent of loans disbursed.
On the other hand, some accounts were closed after the loans had been disbursed.
"A review of loan accounts revealed that 1,041 Safaricom loan accounts, whose principal amount had not been fully repaid were closed. The loans disbursed amounted to Ksh1,465,515 but were closed after repayment of Ksh646,870 leaving a balance of Ksh818,645, which ought to have been collected before closing the accounts," the auditor reported.
"Further, there were thirty (30) loan accounts with a total of Ksh598,987 that were closed without repayment of the loan balances."
