Oparanya defends Hustler Fund against 'politically-motivated' KHRC report

Co-operatives and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) Development Cabinet Secretary Wycliffe Oparanya has defended the Hustler Fund against criticism from a Monday report by the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC), dismissing it as "skewed, elitist and politically motivated."

KHRC warned that the programme is a recipe for financial failure as it lacks a sustainable plan to empower Kenyans at the bottom of the pyramid, as earlier intended. 

According to the rights body, scrapping the programme is the only viable option for the Kenyan government, as reforming or re-engineering the Fund will not address the fundamental design, political, and legal flaws that have haunted it since its inception in November 2022. 

In response, Oparanya accused KHRC of using flawed data and biased methodology to discredit the Fund, which he said has made significant strides in expanding financial inclusion since its launch in late 2022.

“The title of the report explicitly betrays the whole purpose of the study,” Oparanya said in a statement, questioning why the ministry or the Fund’s management had not been consulted during the research process.

“Professionalism demands a response from key players. The conclusions made are keen to sentence the Fund to death without trial.”

The KHRC report criticised the Fund's accessibility, loan limits, and sustainability; findings the CS said were based on premature data, including just the first month of operations.

Oparanya challenged several claims made in the report, including an assertion that the Fund was capitalised with Ksh.50 billion.

“The amount so far injected is Ksh.14 billion, which has been reinvested in a portfolio of over Ksh.72 billion,” he said.

He also dismissed allegations that the Fund is difficult to access, saying over 9 million people borrow regularly from the Hustler Fund, and over 5 million borrowers have demonstrated strong repayment behaviour, making them eligible for larger amounts under the “Bridge” loan product.

The CS described the KHRC report’s conclusions as “lazily drawn,” noting that the Fund has already begun transitioning successful borrowers into the formal banking system through partnerships with commercial banks.

Oparanya also cited a recent Central Bank of Kenya report that found the Hustler Fund had overtaken institutions like the Agricultural Finance Corporation in financing farmers at the grassroots.

“The NGO either doesn’t understand the credit market landscape or feigned ignorance to buttress their political motive,” Oparanya said.

He claimed the report’s initial planned release date (June 24th) was designed to coincide with the anniversary of the 2024 anti-Finance Bill protests, further evidence, he argued, of its political slant.

Oparanya concluded by urging the public to view the Hustler Fund as a transformative tool rather than through “a narrow and malicious political lens.”