Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna has accused President William Ruto of deceiving Kenyans on the newly unveiled Hustler Fund.
According to Sifuna, the hustler fund launched on Wednesday, November 30 is not what the president promised Kenyans while campaigning for the country’s top seat.
While speaking during an interview with Citizen TV on December 1, the senator stated that William Ruto promised interest-free grants to small-scale traders and not loans.
“This is not what was promised during the campaign. During the campaign, the hustlers were told that they would be receiving a grant which would not be subject to any interest for them to support their businesses,” Sifuna said.
Moreover, the Nairobi senator likened the launched hustler fund to other regular digital credit facilities such as Fuliza, the mobile lending program by telecommunications giant Safaricom.
“What was launched yesterday is essentially a government-run Fuliza that you can access and pay for within 14 days,” he added.
Also Read: Here’s How to Access the Hustler Fund on Your Mobile Phone
The head of state launched the fund on Wednesday to offer Kenyans loans from a minimum of Ksh.500 to as high as Ksh. 50,000 at an 8 per cent pro-rated basis or a daily rate of 0.002 per cent.
President Ruto said the fund is the key to unlocking the economic equality of all Kenyans.
Similarly, while speaking during the hustler fund launch at Green Park in Nairobi, the head of state said the fund was borne out of the need to give Kenyans in Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) access to capital, adding that his tours of the country ahead of the August General Election gave him access to Kenyans’ concerns.
“The origins of this fund go back to our numerous trips across the country and everywhere we went Kenyans complained of loans and a lack of money to grow their businesses,” added the president.
Nevertheless, hustler fund is accessible through the USSD code *254# and mobile application platforms of any of the mobile network operators in Kenya.