President William Ruto has announced that no Kenyan is currently listed with the Credit Reference Bureau (CRB), asserting that his administration has delivered on its promise to remove millions of borrowers from the credit blacklist.
Speaking at a media session held at Kitui State Lodge on Thursday, November 13, 2025, Ruto said his government has removed all blacklisted individuals and enrolled them in the Hustler Fund, which he described as a vital resource for ordinary citizens.
“Kulikuwa na watu zaidi ya milioni saba kwa CRB. Iyo ni kweli ama si kweli? Leo, there is nobody in CRB. We have removed them. We have transferred them to the Hustler Fund. The Hustler Fund today is lending money to two million Kenyans every month,” the President said.
He said this initiative reflects his pledge to empower low-income earners and small traders who were previously denied access to formal financial services. “It is a commitment I made, and I am willing to answer,” Ruto added. “When I make a commitment, I keep it.”
Ruto first announced the delisting in July 2023, revealing that over seven million Kenyans had been removed from the CRB blacklist.
The move aimed to provide those previously marked as defaulters a chance to access affordable loans through the Hustler Fund. At the time, he called for reforms in the credit bureau system, arguing that the existing model unfairly penalized borrowers.
“This is very important; four million Kenyans have been excluded from formal borrowing because of blacklisting. They have been left at the mercy of shylocks. We must change that model so that we do not make an all-or-nothing process,” Ruto said during a joint press briefing with financial leaders in 2023.
CRB records and official clarifications
Government officials have since provided further clarification.
In July 2025, Susan Mang’eni, Principal Secretary for the State Department for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development, explained that Kenyans can still appear on CRB records even after repaying their debts.
Mang’eni said a CRB record is not necessarily negative, as it captures both positive and negative credit histories. She added that negative listings remain for up to seven years, even after debts are cleared. Nearly eight million Kenyans have been negatively listed due to economic challenges, including the pandemic, drought, and global financial pressures, she said.
Other reforms highlighted
During his Kitui address, Ruto also emphasized other achievements, including housing projects, healthcare reforms, and improved national savings. “I told the people of Kenya I was going to implement a housing program. Today, a housing program is going on across the country,” he said.
The president said the government had overhauled the universal health coverage system, replacing the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) with the Social Health Authority (SHA) under new legislation.
On national savings, he noted that the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) has achieved record collections since reforms were introduced.
“I made a commitment that we are going to change our savings culture. Today, NSSF has collected twice the money they had collected in 60 years,” Ruto said.
He argued that these milestones demonstrate the government’s focus on financial inclusion, economic transformation, and empowering ordinary citizens.
