Parliament to intensify crackdown on unscrupulous asset financiers

Source: Capital FM Kenya
Author: Sharon Resian, Wangechi Purity

NAIROBI, Kenya, May 10 - The Departmental Committee on Finance and National Planning has promised to investigate the operations of unscrupulous asset finance entities amid complaints from boda boda riders.

Committee Members made the commitment during public hearings inquiring about the alleged exploitative lending practices faced by the operators across the country through asset finance entities under the model.

Lawrence Karanja, who chairs a welfare group of fellow riders in Westlands, told the Committee that an asset lending entity, Watu Credit, carted away a motorcycle belonging to one of his members after he had completed a loan facility extended to him. The motor cycle has never been recovered.

On his part, James Sambai, who leads a welfare group in Langata, said over 10 riders in his welfare group had mysteriously lost their motor cycles just when they were about to complete the payment of their loan facilities.

A similar account was given by Faith Otieno from Ruaraka, who specializes in online deliveries, whose motorbike was stolen just when she had packed it to pick up her child from a daycare. She revealed that she had paid a total of Sh246,000 before the bike got stolen.

The Committee heard that despite the hundreds of motorcycles stolen being insured by the lenders themselves and installed with a tracking device, they had neither been compensated nor had the tracking system led to their discoveries

Some of the riders also claimed that their colleagues had lost their lives soon after the completion of the payment of their loans, under very unclear circumstances.

Others told the Committee that they had received threats from the rogue companies after they had appeared in the media during an earlier engagement with the Committee on the matter.

"We live in constant fear. You have no idea who your next client is and what their intentions are. We urge this Committee to protect us," Eric Wambua, a rider from Njiru area in Nairobi county, pleaded.

Led by the Chairperson, Kuria Kimani, the Members assured the over 50 operators who had come forth to give their witness accounts that the Committee would stop at nothing until the ongoing exploitation that has caused them untold suffering is stopped.

"We are paid to work for you. We have invited you here because we believe this engagement will offer you reprieve from the agony you have been made to go through. We are therefore committed to this cause and we shall make strong recommendations in our report which will end up on the floor of the House for consideration," Kimani told them.

His sentiments were echoed by Committee Members Joseph Munyoro (Kigumo), Umulkheir Kassim (Mandera), Paul Biego (Chesumei) and (Dr.) John Ariko who expressed concerns that such exploitation had been going on unabated.

The matter was first brought to the attention of the House by Munyoro, who sought a statement on the floor of the House from the committee chairperson on the matter. The Speaker committed the matter to the Committee, which thereafter commenced an inquiry into the allegations.

Having received the submissions from the operators, the Committee is scheduled to engage with the five lenders against whom allegations were leveled, alongside the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) and the Insurance Regulatory Authority (IRA), to shed more light on the matter.