Thursday, 22 May, 2025
Budget cuts threaten key beta projects, Parliamentary Committee warned
Bunge Towers, Parliament Buildings Tuesday, May 20, 2025
Flagship government projects under the Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA) face major disruption due to budget cuts, two Principal Secretaries have warned.
Susan Mang’eni (MSMEs Development) and Patrick Kilemi (Cooperatives) raised the concern while appearing before the National Assembly’s Trade, Industry and Cooperatives Committee that is chaired by Hon. Benard Shinali (Ikolomani).
The two officials who separately presented their respective 2025/2026 estimates of revenue and expenditure and warned that key BETA initiatives may stall if the funding gap is not addressed.
Ms. Mang’eni said the Financial Inclusion Fund, widely known as the Hustler Fund, was among the underfunded priority areas.
“The Hustler Fund requires Sh5 billion but was only allocated Sh1 billion. We request full reinstatement to meet the growing demand for financial products,” she said.
Her request for additional funding for the kitty drew sharp reactions from lawmakers led by Hon Shinali and Committee Vice Chairperson Hon. Marianne Kitany (Aldai).
They put the PS on the spot regarding the performance of the fund and the loan recovery efforts.
"Kenyans have alot of challenges that require government attention including in infrastructure, why should billions of shillings be allocated to be loaned out?" posed the Chairperson.
“You want more money to lend to Kenyans, yet you can’t recover what was already disbursed?” asked Hon Kitany.
Ms. Mang’eni admitted that a substantial number of borrowers had defaulted. However, she assured the Committee that new measures had been adopted to boost recovery.
She also noted that more young Kenyans were registering for the fund upon turning 18, citing its growing impact across the country.
Mr. Kilemi said his State Department plays a key role in implementing the BETA agenda by mobilizing farmers and producers into cooperatives across ten value chains.
He warned that severe budget cuts had affected their targets.
“There is a 60 percent reduction in funding for BETA value chains. This will significantly undermine our efforts,” he said.
The affected value chains include Coffee, Leather, Dairy, Tea, Rice, Edible Oils, and Garments and Textiles. Others are Construction Materials, Artisanal Mining, and Artisanal Fishing.