ODM SG Edwin Sifuna calls out CS Wycliffe Oparanya for saying he will go after Hustler Fund defaulters
Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) Secretary General Edwin Sifuna has criticised Cooperatives CS Wycliffe Oparanya's decision to target Hustler Fund defaulters, terming it as doublespeak from his previous stance when he was in the opposition.
During an interview on Spice FM, Sifuna questioned why Oparanya initially told Kenyans not to pay the Fund but has changed his notion after joining government.
He termed it as "hypocrisy" and confirmed that the Opposition would still maintain its role of holding the entire government to account.
"I was a bit puzzled when I heard Oparanya saying that he will now come for people who have not paid the Hustler Fund. I was with him at Kamukunji telling people not to return this money. That is hypocrisy and we will call him out for that hypocrisy. He is the one who told those young people, I was there. He cannot then come and tell us that we have to pay this money back," he noted.
Sifuna advised the former ODM party members who had joined government to expect a robust scrutiny of their work in government, which is part of the opposition's mandate.
"(Treasury CS) John Mbadi knows for a fact that if he tries to introduce the bad sections of the Finance Bill, we will oppose it. Whatever it is they are doing in government, they know what they signed themselves into. They can expect, in fact they will be disappointed if they would not see robust interrogation of everything they do in government," he added.
Speaking over his change of heart during an interview on Citizen TV, CS Oparanya said that he reviewed the nitty gritty of the Hustler Fund when he assumed office and is of the belief that it will benefit small-scale traders.
He noted that instead of using punitive measures to punish the defaulters, the government will initiate talks through Chiefs to help residents understand the Fund's importance.
‘’If we make it tough for them, how will they eat or conduct their businesses? That’s why we even want to engage the Chiefs to talk to them,’’ Oparanya said on September 5, 2024.
