CS Chelugui at pains to explain why CRB doesn’t have access to Hustler Fund data
![CS Chelugui at pains to explain why CRB doesn’t have access to Hustler Fund data CS Chelugui at pains to explain why CRB doesn’t have access to Hustler Fund data](https://citizentv.obs.af-south-1.myhuaweicloud.com/128506/conversions/chelugui-og_image.webp)
Cooperatives and MSMEs Cabinet Secretary Simon Chelugui on Citizen TV's Tonight Show on Tuesday, July, 9, 2024. PHOTO|COURTESY
Cooperatives and MSMEs Cabinet Secretary Simon Chelugui was
on Tuesday tasked to explain why the Credit Reference Bureau (CRB) does not yet
have access to Hustler Fund data and information to enable help the customers build
a good credit history.
CS Chelugui who spoke on Citizen TV’s Tonight Show fumbled
on his words in giving perspective to the issue despite saying that the
government was working to ensure the Fund’s users had a good credit score,
which is the sole mandate of CRB.
He said that the government was yet to actualize a good
partnership with CRB and was still banking on more time to develop a
relationship.
“We haven’t reached there because we are only 18 months; it
is a product we are developing but ultimately we believe we will have the
largest information on Credit Bureau,” said Chelugui.
“We have not closed anyone out, especially the CRB. We are
actually developing a partnership with CRB right now but we needed to build
some database so that by the time we engage because we are approaching 2 years
by November this year, we will have enough information.”
The show host Yvonne Okwara wondered why 18 months into President William Ruto’s flagship project, the CS was still arguing that the government
required more time, adding that the taxpayers deserve accountability.
In his response, Chelugui said, “We need to see the
borrowers transact at least 3 times.”
Okwara disputed the CS’s sentiment reminding him of his
earlier claim that about 2 million borrowers had borrowed over 10 times.
“You are saying 2 to 3 times but you did say that the ones
that you have graduated or rehabilitated have borrowed up to 10 times, so why
is the information not available to the CRB?” She asked.
In a rejoinder, Chelugui however claimed that the aforesaid
group of people had, according to the government
obtained a good credit score but the
same tool used by the government to determine the credit score was yet to be
adopted by CRB.
“We have 2 million borrowers who according to us have
demonstrated good credit status and borrowed over 10 times,” said the CS.
He added, “We believe in the next two years we can still
deepen information from these hustlers and as I speak to you, we are engaged with
CRB to develop a scoring tool for them …it is not all lost.”
Okwara however wondered why the CRB and the
government used a different scoring tool to address the same issue.
“What is wrong with the scoring tool that they have?" She
posed.
The CS in his response said the CRB has a high scorecard as
compared to the government since they deal with banks and other big financial institutions,
a claim which resulted in a back and forth as the interviewer sought to acquire facts.
“The scoring tool they have could be very high because one,
the way they structured their scoring is mostly from banks or big financial
institutions,” he said.
Yvonne noted: "Actually they take their scoring from every lending
institution Saccos, Banks and digital lenders."
Chelugui responded: "Those are conventional Financial institutions. This
is a fellow who we went out, picked up his phone got Ksh.500, narrowed again
and built history."
“We are trying to reconfigure the system and see how best we
can do. We have a social responsibility to bring them into the financial space.”
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