The government targets to create five million jobs in the Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) sector in the next three years, Cooperatives Cabinet Secretary Wycliffe Oparanya has revealed.
Oparanya disclosed that currently 15 million Kenyans are employed in the MSME sectors and the government has plans to move the number to 20 million in the next three years.
“The government employs about 1 million civil servants and the big companies in the country have the capacity to employ only 2million people. Our best bet of employment creation is in the MSMEs where currently 15 million Kenyans are employed. The president instructed me to ensure that 5 million more Kenyans get employed through the sector in the next three years,” Oparanya stated.
The CS who was speaking in Bondo, where he handed over Ksh 32 million Uwezo fund cheque for Sacco’s in Siaya county said the government funds like Uwezo, Woman Enterprise ,Youth and Hustler funds are aimed at creating jobs opportunities in the MSME sector contributing to the overall targeted 20 million people employed in the sector.
Oparanya encouraged business groups which have benefited from the government funding to form cooperatives so that they can benefit from bigger loans for expansion from the Kenya Industrial Estates (KIE).
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“A lot of questions have been asked about groups which have reached the Uwezo funds ceiling of Kshs. 500,000, I want to encourage them to form companies which can the borrow between one and twenty million shillings from KIE,” Oparanya explained.
The CS added that business entities which successfully pay KIE loans and need more funds for expansion qualify for higher loans of up to Ksh 500million from the Kenya Development Cooperation (KDC) under the ministry of trade.
“I don’t want to see people idling saying they have no jobs yet there is a lot of government funds that can be used to spur economic development and create opportunities to earn a living. A beneficiary of the government funds creates employment opportunities when he hires people to help in the business and also domestic workers to take care of their homes when they are at work,” The CS said.
Oparanya on that note encouraged MPs who are yet to form Uwezo fund committees to do so immediately for the benefit of their constituents saying about 15 constituencies have not yet formed Uwezo committees and cannot therefore benefits from the funds.
At the same time, Cooperatives PS in the state department of MSMEs Susan Meng’eni, who accompanied the CS Oparanya on her part, encouraged the timely repayment of the government funds by the business groups to improve individual member’s credit score.
Mang’eni said the government is currently digitizing registration of all business groups where it will be possible to monitor the performance and credit rating of each individual member.
“I know that as some group members repay back loans there are others who pull them back. With the on-going digitization of group’s registration we will be able to weed out such members from group” she said
The PS asserted that the government will soon launch the Hustler Fund national credit score where individual borrowers will be rated based on their borrowing and repayment habits.
She said that individuals with excellent credit score will not only use the scores to access hustler fund business loans but will also not be required to provide collaterals and security to access loans from financial institutions in the country.
“Individuals in Siaya County currently owe the hustler funds about Khs700 million. This is a personal loan to benefit people who do not have property or titles they can use to get loans from banks. The good credit ratings for the people who repay back the money is the security they will use to access loans from the banks so repay back the money to improve your credit rating in the soon to be launched hustler fund national credit score,” Mang’eni added.
Area MP Dr Gideon Ochanda who hosted the event asked the cooperatives CS to provide NG-CDF kitty with money for administration of Uwezo Fund saying the current allocation does not have provision for the administration of the funds which is a burden to MPs.
“There is a law that simply says NG-CDF shall support the administration of Uwezo Fund yet there is no allocation for the same. We have to find funds from elsewhere to pay committee members during meetings and Uwezo fund staff making administration of the fund hectic for Mps,” Ochanda said.
The occasion was also attended by Alego Usonga MP Samuel Atandi whose constituency business groups received Ksh 3 million Uwezo funds allocation.
Atandi called for the abolition of hustler funds saying the money should instead be allocated to Uwezo funds which has greater impact on the groups and the community at large.
By Erick Nyayiera
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