4 million Kenyans to be Removed From CRBs Blacklist

4 million Kenyans blacklisted for defaulting loans will be ejected from the negative listing by November 1 according to President William Ruto.

President Ruto said lowering the cost of credit is part of multiple interventions to lower the cost of living.

“We must think beyond financial inclusion to a more accessible and affordable credit model. Instead of blacklisting, we can have a graduated listing of borrowers based on how they have borrowed and how they have paid back,” he said.

“This is a positive development for millions of Kenyans who are excluded from accessing credit. We have the largest opportunity in enabling credit access to MSMEs.”

The announcement was made Wednesday when the president met officials from the National Treasury, Central Bank, Safaricom, Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) and NCBA.

“We must think beyond financial inclusion to a more accessible and affordable credit model. I am very happy that between 4 to 5 million Kenyans will, by the beginning of November, be out of the CRB blacklist.

This is very important because these Kenyans have been excluded from any formal borrowing and have been left at the mercies of shylocks that exploit them.” President Ruto stated.

On Thursday, the President reiterated the same when he addressed parliament.

“We shall take measures to drive down the cost of credit. Our starting point is to shift the Credit Reference Bureau (CRB) framework from its current practice of arbitrary, punitive and all-or-nothing blacklisting of borrowers, which denies borrowers credit.

We will work with Credit reference bureaus on a new system of credit score rating that provides borrowers with an opportunity to manage their creditworthiness. This will eliminate blacklisting.”