Nairobi — The Financial Inclusion Fund (Hustler Fund) has 14 days to release the names of loan defaulters, amid growing concerns over rising unpaid loans.
Members of Parliament also want the Fund to provide details of how much each borrower took and their borrowing history.
Hustler Fund Chief Executive Officer Henry Tanui, appearing before the National Assembly's Special Funds Accounts Committee, told MPs that the fund has disbursed Sh83 billion in loans since its launch.
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Of the total amount advanced, Sh71 billion has been repaid, leaving Sh12.5 billion unpaid, translating to a 15 percent default rate, a matter lawmakers have now taken issue with.
MPs raised concerns over possible abuse of the system, arguing that some borrowers are using multiple SIM cards to take several loans before defaulting, making tracking and recovery difficult.
According to Tanui, the fund currently disburses about Sh50 million in loans daily, equivalent to roughly Sh1.5 billion per month.
The committee is now pushing for telecommunication firms and banks to support the verification of borrowers to curb multiple borrowing and improve loan recovery.
Concerns have also been growing about the long-term sustainability of the fund as default rates continue to rise.
In 2025, the government proposed writing off between Sh5 billion and Sh6 billion in bad loans borrowed by about 10 million Kenyans in 2022.
Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Principal Secretary Susan Mang'eni told the National Assembly's Committee on Trade, Industry and Cooperatives that the borrowers had failed to repay the loans despite taking them more than two years ago.
"They never repaid, and that is what we will be seeking to write off, so the portfolio that is totally at risk and is in default is about between Ksh5 billion and Ksh6 billion," she said.
The Hustler Fund, launched in November 2022 by President William Ruto, was designed to provide affordable credit to Kenyans at the bottom of the economic pyramid who often lack access to formal bank loans.
However, concerns are increasingly emerging over the sustainability of the initiative as loan defaults continue to rise.
