Uwezo Fund on Monday issued cheques amounting to Sh 3.6 million to 17 groups in Nandi Hills Constituency who qualified for the fund. The fund which was launched in 2013 is a flagship programme for Vision 2030 aimed at enabling persons with disabilities women and the youth access to finances to promote businesses and enterprises at the constituency level in a bid to enhance economic growth. This enables growth in businesses, enterprises as well as in achieving sustainable development goals such as eradicating extreme poverty and hunger, promoting gender equality and empowering women. Speaking during the event held at Nandi Hills Sub County headquarters grounds, Uwezo Fund Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Peter Lengapiani lauded the groups that managed to qualify for the fund by meeting all the requirements noting that some received for the first time whereas others received for the second and third time. Lengapiani noted that Uwezo Fund is the only Fund that is issued with no interest attached, urging them to take advantage of it to grow and be independent as a way to eradicate poverty. ‘I want to urge Nandi Hills Sub County residents who have not joined groups to hurry up to be able to take advantage of Uwezo Fund. Nandi Hills has the least percentage of Uwezo Fund beneficiaries as compared to other sub-Counties in Nandi County,’ the CEO said. While encouraging more youths, women and people with disabilities to form groups and apply for the fund, he said that one of the qualifications for a higher amount of Uwezo Fund is to pay the one received affirming that most groups failed to grow due to failure to pay their first loan. ‘Groups at the expansion stage qualify for double the amount they received in the first lot because they were able to pay back the fund on the stipulated time. The faster you pay the quicker you graduate to the next level,’ he pointed out. The CEO noted that a small percentage of youths in the Country have utilised the Uwezo Fund as compared to the women despite the last census showing that youths have a greater population than women. On his part, the area MP Bernard Kitur called on Uwezo Fund team to come up with a programme that will benefit the youth as individuals saying that with the current programme its women who have benefited more because of their ease of forming groups. Mr Kitur congratulated the groups that managed to qualify for the fund and urged others to learn from them. ‘I want to call upon Uwezo Fund to come up with a programme to loan youths wishing to work in foreign countries funds to cater for their medical and transport to be deducted through cheque off,’ suggested the legislator noting that it will enable youths have ease of accessing employment in foreign countries thus tackle the unemployment issues.

Source: Kenya News Agency