Police to hunt down helb defaulters

Kenyans have taken to social media to condemn Education CS Amina Mohammed for what they are calling as “misguided action” after she announced that police would now hunt down defaulters of the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB).

Amina Mohammed, who was speaking during the launch of Helb’s 2019-2023 strategic plan on Wednesday said it’s not going to be business as usual as Helb seeks to recover over 7.2 billion owed by 74,000 defaulters.

“We are also going to partner with our law enforcement agencies to track down those holding jobs and yet are reluctant to stand up to be counted as responsible and patriotic citizens who honour their debts,” she said.

Helb lends funds in form of affordable loans, bursaries and scholarship to students pursuing higher education in recognized institutions, which are supposed to be repaid once the students get into employment.

Former student leader at the University of Nairobi, Babu Owino, who is now Embakasi East MP is among those that have condemned the CS for the pronouncement, saying HELB beneficiaries are defaulting loans due to unemployment.

“The government must first create jobs before chasing debts. The question the Kenyan government should be asking is why are 74,000 graduates defaulting? Majority of them do so out of necessity not by choice. We would all love to be able to meet all our financial obligations but if faced with a choice between feeding your family and paying HELB, one will definitely choose to ensure his/her child sleeps fed,” Babu Owino said.