50 Mvita groups to receive sh7.3M Uwezo loans

Over 50 groups in Mvita Sub County are set to benefit from sh7.3 million Uwezo Fund loan this year.

According to Richard Ruoti, Mvita sub-county Uwezo fund Secretary in 2019 the groups received a total of 7.6million as a boost to their small scale businesses.

He says the fund; a government interest-free loan targets youths, women and people with disability.

“We have trained 52 groups who are our expected beneficiaries. The groups are to be funded to a tune of up to sh7.3 million this year, said Ruoti.

Ruoti, who was speaking to Jumuiya news on Wednesday, urged the youth and people with disabilities to apply for the kitty.

He states that unlike women who have embraced the initiative most youths and people with disability have failed to apply for the loan.

“Women have come out in multitudes of numbers compared to youths and PWDs. However we have recorded low numbers of youths and PWDs,” said Ruoti.

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He further called on the previous beneficiaries of the fund to repay the loans saying they can only give out the fund to other beneficiaries once it is repaid.

“This is a revolving fund. Those who do not want to repay the loan complicate matters. The lowest amount we give out in Mvita sub-county is sh100,000 and the highest can be up to sh500,000,” he noted.

He, however, explains that Mvita sub-county locals are now able to access the fund after a series of sensitization meetings on how to apply for the fund.

Meanwhile, Sonia Abdul, Mvita sub-county Uwezo Fund chairperson said the committee has been acting on all the loan forms being submitted at the office.

She points out that most youths fail to understand that the fund is a form of a loan.

“Last year, due to the coronavirus we gave out a total of sh1.1million after some of the groups failed to attend their training.

Ms Sonia rubbished claims the fund operates under strict conditions.

She called on the specific groups applying for the uwezo fund loans to remain focused saying “any unfocussed groups will fail to repay the loan.

The Mvita Sub-county Uwezo Chair says the conditions for any application of an Uwezo Fund loan are the simplest requiring the least of conditions.

“A group only requires a bank statement, at least 2 minutes and a list of members. We are here today to sensitize the groups that have applied for the Uwezo Fund loans.

Uwezo fund is a flagship of Kenya’s vision 2030 blueprint and also includes initiatives to enable women and the disabled access funds to promote businesses and enterprise at the constituency level, thereby enhancing growth.

The loans do not attract interest and beneficiaries enjoy a grace period of six months and thereafter make repayment for two years.

It is administered at the constituency level through a revolving fund that provides accessible and affordable credit, capacity building and market linkages to youth women and people with disability.