Simon Chelugui, cabinet secretary for cooperatives and micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), has made it clear that there would be no formal registration requirements for the government’s Hustler Fund program, which will launch at the end of this month.
Speaking to the media at the NSSF Building in Nairobi on Friday, CS Chelugui stated that Kenyans wishing to access the cash would only need to use a certain code on their mobile phones.
“Unlike any financial products that require a lot of paperwork, guarantors or collaterals among other hurdles, borrowers will face no such roadblocks. No registration is required and all that will be required is to dial a code. There will be no intermediaries, it will just be the hustler and their phones,” he said.
“On this first product, people will work with their phone numbers; they will use the short code which will take them to a certain menu which leads you to completion of the applications and submissions. The same response will follow the same process in loading the money.”
He said that the government is working on developing a procedural code that would be used to share the funds with all Kenyans through the available mobile network telcos.
“The finance will be accessed on our mobile numbers or networks and is working with the leading mobile network operators, Safaricom, Airtel and Telcom to deliver the funds,” Chelugui explained.
The CS, therefore, cautioned online fraudsters who would attempt to interfere with the process by hoodwinking unknowing Kenyans to register for the funding.
This, he said, would lead to penalties in line with the outlined regulations.
“We wish to disregard the public from all forms of communications inviting them to register for the funds on websites or phone numbers,” Chelugui urged.
“Penalties outlined in the regulations target fund officials who may embezzle, misappropriate or misapply the funds. It also targets those who may create fake websites and links and mislead members of the public and end up defrauding them.”
CS Chelugui at the same time noted that the second cluster of financing for microfinance institutions and SMEs would be accessed through banks and other registered associations.
“The second product which is micro-loan and SME loans startups, we will work with the intermediaries including the banks, SACCOs, MIF, Chamas and all forms of associations and collectives to deliver the hustler funds,” he stated.
Chelugui’s remarks come after President William Ruto recently revealed that the Hustler Fund would purely be disbursed online without the need for any committee.
Addressing the Kenya Kwanza Parliamentary Group on Wednesday, President Ruto disclosed that there will be no committees regulating the disbursement process to allow a seamless process ahead of its expected first phase launch on November 30, 2022.
“The product is going to be seamless, you will not need any committee, you do not need to know anybody and the product will be online just like M-Pesa,” said the President then.
“I know some of you had made arrangements to form a committee for disbursing Hustler funds. Sorry, I will disappoint you there will be no Hustler Fund committee,” he added.
