Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua urged Kenyans to repay the money borrowed from the Hustler Fund, advising them against listening to lawmakers who advocate for credit defaults.
Gachagua spoke on Monday, December 19, at the launch of the first designed and built Semi-Conductor in Kenya at the Dedan Kimathi University of Technology in Nyeri.
"I want to ask our people to ignore the retrogressive calls by the Azimio La Umoja characters urging you not to pay money borrowed from the Hustler Fund. Please borrow and pay,"
"If you decide not to pay, you will not be able to borrow again. I do not think the Ksh2,000 they asked you not to pay will change your life," he cautioned the borrowers.
The DP noted that Kenyans had borrowed Ksh9.4 billion and repaid Ksh2.6 billion while urging them to continue borrowing, noting that their limit increases as they borrow.
"It will change your life if you borrow all the time," Gachagua added.
He also accused the opposition of wishing poverty on Kenyans by discouraging borrowing while they also borrowed to repay their mortgages at an interest rate of three per cent.
"That is retrogressive thinking, a whole senator elected by the people. How can you tell people that elected you not to borrow?" Gachague questioned.
Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna told Kenyans to convert the loans from the kitty into grants as promised by the new administration during the campaign.
"Help Ruto keep his own promises. Convert that loan into the grant he promised. He will do nothing to you," the senator added.
Embakasi East Member of Parliament Babu Owino, on December 7, at the Kamukunji Ground, also urged Kenyans to default.
"Ruto promised Kenyans a grant but instead offered a loan. I urge everyone to apply for the loan and not to pay. There is no jail that can accommodate every Kenyan if they default on payments," Babu remarked.
The Hustler Fund, launched on Wednesday, November 30, was one of the major promises from the Kenya Kwanza administration.
