Who bought what for ridiculously high prices at Hustlers Fund launch

President William Ruto during the launch of Hustlers Fund at Green Park Bus Terminus, Nairobi on Wednesday, November 30 2022. [Elvis Ogina, Standard]

Hustlers who had convened at the Green Park Bus Terminus in Nairobi on Wednesday, November 30, for the launch of Hustlers Fund had a reason to smile after government big shots gifted them hundreds of thousands of shillings.

Transport Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen and Majority Leader in the National Assembly Kimani Ichung'wah gave a boda boda rider Sh200,000 to buy his own motorcycle after he said that the money he was making in a day was too little to feed his family.

The boda boda rider from Umoja narrated his predicament, saying he'd make close to Sh1,000 in a day, but the motorbike owner would take Sh600, leaving him with only Sh400.

"I hardly make enough to comfortably support my family," he said.

It was after his narration that Murkomen and Ichung'wah gifted him Sh200,000 to buy his own motorbike.

Trade Cabinet Secretary Moses Kuria, on the other hand, paid an artist from Busia Sh60,000 for a painting.

Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua bought a mtumba shirt for Sh50,000.

"Hustlers" from different sectors, including transport, second-hand clothes and food and beverages, attended the Wednesday launch.

Other prominent people who gifted the "hustlers" include Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja, Safaricom CEO Peter Ndegwa, Telkom Kenya CEO Mugo Kibati and President of the Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry Richard Ngatia.

President William Ruto said in his speech that Kenyans seeking to borrow money, between Sh500 and Sh50,000 from the Hustlers Fund, will use the short code *254# on Safaricom, Airtel and Telkom networks.

"The Hustlers Fund will give every hustler a second chance. Unlike other loan schemes, the Hustlers Fund will not require [lengthy] application [processes], just your mobile phone," said the president.