President William Ruto has told off those opposed to his newly launched ‘Hustler’ fund asking them to be "kind and humane".
Ruto said millions of youth across the country were now suffering from shylocks and predatory lenders charging them high interest and it was only prudent for his critics to give him a break.
“You are borrowing your mortgage at three percent, you have the capacity to borrow from your banks at 14 percent, why do you want to derail the hustlers who today are suffering?” he posed.
He said it was wrong for the leaders to mislead the youth into not repaying money given to them at the lowest rate.
“Please allow people borrowing on the hustler fund to also enjoy low interest rates the way you and your families enjoy, do not derail those Kenyans who can access this money on a digital platform that is of interest that is reasonable,” he said.
In 12 days, Ruto said there were 15.4 million subscribers on the platform with Sh7.54 billion having been lent out so far.
Savings, he noted, was close to Sh400 million with Sh1.2 billion having been repaid attributing this to the power of technology.
ODM leader Raila Odinga had a week ago poked holes into Hustler Fund program urging his supporters who have taken the loans to default on repayments.
“Hii Hustler Fund ati unapewa shilingi mia tano, hiyo unaweza kuanzisha biashara gani? Alafu ati ulipe baada ya siku kumi na nne…sisi tulisema nguruwe sita. Mjue hii mnapewa ni deposit ya zile nguruwe sita,” he said.
“Wakitoa, chukua, lakini hapana sema asante maanake ni mali yenu. Mwambie kesho pia nitarudi. Hio ni mali ya umma ambayo jamaa wameiba.”
