Confusion has emerged over who exactly runs the Hustler Fund after high-ranking officials in President William Ruto's administration offered differing views on who is in charge of the kitty launched in November 2022.

On February 14, 2023, the Chair of Ruto’s Council of Economic Advisors David Ndii, while speaking during an interview on local TV, insisted that the Hustler Fund is solely run by players in the private sector.

He added that the system through which the fund is being disbursed is fully automated and no public official can access it and that the state has partnered with a number of telcos to allocate the funds which he said are stored in a bank under the watchful eye of a "custodian".

"The Hustler Fund is run by the private sector, we have no access to it and no public official has access to the Hustler Fund. It is fully automated. It is run by the private sector, run by an engine provided by telcos. The money stays with a custodian in a bank," said Ndii then on local TVshow.

Ndii's sentiments temporarily watered down concerns as to who is in charge of the fund until Cooperatives and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development CS Simon Chelugui reignited the debate following a TV interview on Thursday, March 9, 2023.

Speaking on local TV show, Chelugui diverged from Ndii's comments noting that the Hustler Fund is currently being administered by the State in conjunction with various lending facilities.

"The Financial Inclusion Fund Secretariat oversees the Hustler Fund. Its offices are in Westlands at the Kenya Institute of Business Training (KIBT). There is a CEO there and a number of officers," Chelugui told show host Rashid Abdalla.

"The secretariat is under my docket and it is in charge of this fund; it is a government parastatal. We have partnered with banks such as KCB, Family Bank and Co-op bank and telcos like Safaricom, Telkom and Airtel. They help us connect with the Hustlers."

He added that all the aforementioned lenders and telcos have since been granted regulatory approval.

"The mobile companies went to the Communication Authority and CBK since they are providing digital financial services and the lenders have gone to the apex bank for regulation of this product," he said.

"The success of this initiative is courtesy of a good partnership between the private quasi-government and the government itself."