The Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) has unveiled plans to collaborate with the police to pursue graduates who have defaulted on their government-issued student loans, starting any time this 2025.
The move, which was revealed during a parliamentary hearing last week, aims to strengthen the agency’s finances and ensure the sustainability of its loan program amid a Ksh9.5 billion student debt crisis.
While appearing before the National Assembly’s Public Investments Committee on Governance and Education on Friday, May 30, HELB CEO Geoffrey Monari outlined the strategy to reinforce loan recovery by partnering with national law enforcement organs to locate defaulters, including those employed domestically and abroad, who have failed to repay their loans.
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“This is not just about finance. It’s about fostering a sense of responsibility and patriotism among those who have benefited from the funds. Compliance ensures we can support future generations from needy backgrounds,” Monari told the committee chaired by Bumula Member of Parliament (MP) Jack Wamboka.
“At the heart of HELB’s operations is the philosophy of the revolving fund – recovering loans to re-lend to aspiring students. However, default rates continue to erode the fund’s sustainability,” he added.
The announcement follows HELB’s unsuccessful attempts to recover funds through warnings and incentives, including an 80% penalty waiver offered in March for borrowers settling loans in full. Despite such measures, thousands of graduates have not responded, prompting what HELB describes as a “last resort” approach.
MPs on the committee, while supportive of efforts to stabilize the loan program, challenged HELB to explore alternatives, such as intensifying public outreach through things like advertisement campaigns featuring borrower success stories, and seeking external funding from private organizations to reduce reliance on government support.
Many Kenyans, on their part, have complained that the new approach risks alienating struggling borrowers, many of whom cite unemployment and financial hardship as reasons for nonpayment.
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