MINISTRY of Small and Medium Enterprises Development Permanent Secretary Subeta Mutelo says the Ministry has placed a strong vetting process for empowerment applications, stating that SMEs wait for over a year to access funds. Recently, the Ministry of Small and Medium Enterprises Development disclosed that it was struggling with empowerment loan recovery with over K1.2 billion unpaid by beneficiaries. Speaking when she appeared on Diamond TV’s breakfast show, Friday, Mutelo said the one year wait was to allow for proper vetting in order to avoid wastage of taxpayers’ money through empowerment loans. “You will note that SMEs have been complaining lately that the funds are not getting to them. They will apply but they will wait for over a year...
