The government has announced plans to track down at least two million Kenyans who have defaulted on loans borrowed from the Hustler Fund, with authorities now turning to location details linked to National Identification cards.
Hustler Fund Chief Executive Officer Henry Tanui told the National Assembly Special Funds Accounts Committee that the government will launch a crackdown on borrowers who have failed to repay the widely used microcredit facility.
According to Tanui, new mechanisms have been introduced to help authorities identify and trace individuals who deliberately borrowed money and failed to repay it.
“The young people who think that they can borrow money from the government and disappear, they can’t, because we know how we will get you,” Tanui said.
He explained that every loan issued through the Hustler Fund is linked to a borrower’s National ID, which also contains location details provided during registration.
“The loan is tied to the National ID, and that ID can give the government the geographical location where you are because during onboarding you provide your location details,” he said.
Tanui revealed that since the Hustler Fund was launched in November 2022, the government has disbursed approximately KSh83 billion to borrowers across the country.
However, only about KSh71 billion has been repaid so far, leaving an estimated KSh12 billion in outstanding loans that authorities believe were taken by borrowers who have since disappeared.
The government now says it will intensify efforts to trace the defaulters and recover the funds as part of measures to safeguard the sustainability of the lending programme.
