In radical plans to reform the country’s credit market, a plan advanced by President William Ruto will see over 4 million Kenyans struck off Credit Reference Bureau (CRB) blacklists. The president called for the financial institutions to stop the blacklists and instead have a credit score.

Dr Ruto argues that with a credit score, borrowers will not be completely locked out of the credit market. Instead they will get a low grade to borrow as per their risk level. The president said this when he attended the press briefing called by Safaricom, KCB and NCBA CEOs when they announced discounts on Fuliza.

“That is very important because they have been excluded from any formal borrowing because of black listing and have been left at the mercy of shylocks and predatory lenders that exploit them and many Kenyan pay as much as 1000 percent.” Said the President, as he hopes that by the beginning of November  all those who had been blacklisted will be delisted.

President Ruto is following in the footsteps of the Kenyatta administration which had previously barred the credit bureaus from listing Kenyans who have defaulted amounts less than KES 1000. In addition, the moratorium given to cushion borrowers from being listed to assuage the effects of COVID 19 is slated to end on 30th September.

Dr Ruto mentioned that during their campaigns as they went round the country, it was evident the the CRB listing was affecting their ability to access credit  alongside the high interest charges by digital lenders, key among them Safaricom’s Fuliza.

The head of state lauded the joint gesture by Safaricom and its partners in the Fuliza venture, NCBA and KCB for lowering the charges by almost 50%. The revised charges Safaricom which cut the daily charges on the Fuliza overdraft facility for loans below Sh1000 by 50 percent and introduced a three-day grace period.