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Didacus Malowa, a journalist at TUKO.co.ke, brings over three years of experience covering politics and current affairs in Kenya.

The government has declared that 9 million Kenyans who have defaulted on loans from the Hustler Fund will be considered criminals.

According to the Kenya Kwanza administration, they would be barred from accessing other government credit facilities, including the Social Health Authority (SHA) Lipa Pole Pole initiative.

During an interview with Citizen TV, Principal Secretary for the State Department of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development, Susan Mang’eni, said borrowers who purposefully refuse to repay loans acquired three years ago will face strict measures.

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She explained the ramifications of some Kenyans deliberately defaulting on the Hustler Fund loan, observing that it had disadvantaged other needy citizens.

Some of the defaulters reportedly took small loans, often around KSh 500 each, and have become untraceable, frustrating government recovery efforts.

Mang’eni clarified that the government is differentiating between defaulters unable to pay due to economic pressures and those deliberately avoiding repayment.

She acknowledged that some Kenyans are having tough time repaying they loan due to unforeseen situations in their lives

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The Hustler Fund, launched in November 2022 to provide affordable credit to micro-entrepreneurs, has grown to 26.5 million registered members.

It has disbursed a total of KSh 65.7 billion, of which KSh 53.2 billion has been repaid.

Despite these achievements, nearly 9 million borrowers have defaulted on loans amounting to about KSh 5 billion, down from an initial KSh 6 billion.

Mang’eni emphasised that the government aims to inculcate a culture of good credit behaviour among Kenyans.

Source: TUKO.co.ke