Kisumu County women representative Ruth Odinga has issued Sh1 million cheques business grants to 27 local groups drawn from Muhoroni and Kisumu Central Sub-Counties.
The beneficiary groups mostly made up of small-scale traders in the remote areas were each awarded cheques worth Sh30,000 to Sh50,000 to boost their businesses.
The initiative dubbed Pesa E Mesa Economic Empowerment program seeks to support over 120 special interest groups across the County who have not yet benefited from the national funding initiatives like the National Government Affirmative Action Fund (NGAAF).
Speaking during the cheques distribution exercise on Thursday, Odinga said the Pesa E Mesa Economic Empowerment program would complement NGAAF in uplifting women, youth and people with disabilities.
She said the remaining groups will be given their share soon.
The program, she said, emphasizes on knowledge sharing through financial literacy training to equip recipients with the skills needed to manage their businesses wisely and grow sustainably.
“We are intending to prioritize traders in the rural areas doing hawking, food vendors, and the ‘mama mbogas’ so that we can empower them and also teach them to grow their businesses,” she said.
Odinga explained that the grants were sourced from the successful economic empowerment fundraiser held in Muhoroni last month.
She noted that locals needed to be empowered in doing business to enable them join and remain active members of the newly launched Shield Okumba Sacco.
“If we invest all the money as seed capital in the SACCO without empowering the groups to be able to do business and join the SACCO, then there will be nobody coming to utilize the funds in the SACCO accounts,” Odinga stated.
So far, NGAAF has supported over 1,800 groups in Kisumu County, however, Odinga pointed out, many of these groups hit a wall once the NGAAF loans run dry.
“Too many hardworking beneficiaries see their progress stall when NGAAF loans get depleted. This is why the idea of forming a SACCO was conceived to address a fundamental gap in our empowerment programs,” she explained.
Odinga added, “A group from Nyakach started with a Sh100,000 loan, now they have graduated to Sh800,000. They are ready to join the SACCO with a goal of buying a tractor. That is the kind of transformation we want to see.”
The Okumba Shield SACCO is a member-owned cooperative designed to pool resources and provide lasting support to local traders by providing low-interest loans, equip members with practical training to maximize profits, and ensure shared-risk security through collective savings.
Ends/Business/Githaiga/Kamotho
Photo Captions:
0242 – Kisumu County Woman Representative Ruth Odinga addressing participants during the cheque distribution exercise to 27 local groups drawn from Muhoroni and Kisumu Central Sub-Counties under the Pesa E Mesa Economic Empowerment program. Photo by Robert Ojwang
0248 – Kisumu county women representative Ruth Odinga issuing cheques for business grants to 27 local groups drawn from Muhoroni and Kisumu Central Sub-Counties under the Pesa E Mesa Economic Empowerment program. Photo by Robert Ojwang
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