Review of timelines of ‘hustler nation fund’ roll-out was expected
The Mt Kenya Times 
President William Ruto
By: Joseph Mutua Ndonga
Worth Noting:
- The first step is to rally all Kenyans to pay their taxes. If mama mboga can afford to pay Sh50 per day, my government will ensure some wealth Kenyan businesspeople and industrialists, who initially evaded paying taxes, have fully complied.
- The government does not have money of its own. It relies on the taxes, foreign loans and grants to provide services to the citizens. So, the President’s call is timely.
- He does not, however, want the taxman to intimidate harass and use foul language on Kenyans. Instead, he called on them to use persuasive language when asking them to pay taxes.
President William Ruto rode to power on a platform of a raft of lofty promises. The roll-out of ‘hustler nation fund’ in 100 days topped the list.
But as it turns out, the hustlers will have to wait for while. During the Mashujaa day cerebrations, the President announced that he will launch the fund on December 1.
For me, Ruto is not to blame. As we know he had a frosty relationship with his boss, the outgoing president Uhuru Kenyatta. It was therefore hard for him to know the exact amount of money that was in the coffers of national treasury.
After being sworn-in, that is when the reality sunk in. The treasury did not have enough money to roll-out this project and others within the timelines he had set out.
While noting he was now at the helm of power, the President would not allow this situation to hold him back. I still remember the promises I made to you. I’m committed to fulfill them.
On ‘hustler fund’, he would enumerate measures put in place by his government to raise a Sh50 billion kitty.
The first step is to rally all Kenyans to pay their taxes. If mama mboga can afford to pay Sh50 per day, my government will ensure some wealth Kenyan businesspeople and industrialists, who initially evaded paying taxes, have fully complied.
The government does not have money of its own. It relies on the taxes, foreign loans and grants to provide services to the citizens. So, the President’s call is timely.
He does not, however, want the taxman to intimidate harass and use foul language on Kenyans. Instead, he called on them to use persuasive language when asking them to pay taxes.
Reports indicated some Kenyans were stubborn and big-headed. Others subjected the Kenya Revenue Authority [KRA] officials to cat-and-mouse game. I hope they will not take advantage of the president gesture to evade paying taxes.
For many years, corruption had been cited as the main reason that hindered taxman from fulfilling his mandate. Some of the top officials at KRA faced accusations of colluding with the wealth Kenyans. They would help them to evade paying taxes after receiving hefty bribes.
A time has come to do a major clean-up of KRA. If this happens, President Ruto’s wish will bear the fruits.
It is worth to recall that former President Uhuru Kenyatta tried to fight the cartels at KRA. His efforts did not yield much. Dr Ruto was the Deputy President during this period. I know he learnt big lessons. So, I have no reason to doubt his commitment to deal with this problem.
President Ruto ascended to power at a time when Kenyans were reeling under the weight of high cost of life. One can therefore understand why the public expectations were so high. The President has so far done well to manage them.
I have heard the critics of Dr Ruto terming his concept of ‘hustler nation’ as a cut-and-paste from similar initiatives that had been rolled out by his predecessors-Mwai Kibaki and Uhuru Kenyatta.
They would cite Youth and women enterprise funds as well as Uwezo fund. These interventions encountered numerous challenges.
The two key complaints lodged stood as: The funds did not reach those listed as beneficiaries. Besides, a huge chunk of the money was also diverted, looted and ended up lining up pockets of state officials entrusted to manage them. To critics, Ruto has no strategy to address this problem? I disagree with them. Ruto has enumerated a raft of different strategies on how the ‘hustler fund’ will be managed. If you look at them, he is more concerned about how the funds will reach the listed beneficiaries. The government will partner with some banks which will the funds at lower interest rates. Dr Ruto has demonstrated that he prefers a hands-on style of leadership. So, I would not expect the state officials managing these funds to let him down.
Joseph Mutua Ndonga is a writer and a political commentator based in Nairobi
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