Wa Iria party wants Helb loans waived

In Summary

• CRP said the prevailing difficult situation in the country among the youth should inform the ministry to cancel all the debts.
• The party has cautioned Helb not to publish information on loan defaulters.
• Last month, Helb issued a 30-day notice saying on its expiry it would publish the names of defaulters.

The Civic Renewal Party (CRP), which is affiliated to Murang’a Governor Mwangi Wa Iria, has called on the Ministry of Education to consider writing off all loans owed to the Higher Education Loans Board (Helb) by graduates who are not employed.

According to the party, which has written to the ministry over the matter, the prevailing difficult situation in the country among the youth should inform the ministry to cancel all the debts, just like the national government has waived debt for coffee and other sectors.

CRP official James Mwangi said Helb should also stop charging interest on the student loans going forward.

YOUTH HOPELESS

“We appeal to CS George Magoha to cancel all student loan debt for hundreds of thousands of unemployed graduates who owe billions of shillings (to Helb) and place a cap on student loan interest rates going forward at zero rates. This is because of the prevailing environment in the country which has made most of the youth hopeless and increased cases of suicides in the country,” Mr Mwangi said.

He said the party has written to education officials seeking for the waiver and recommending for huge investments in the higher education sector just the way other government departments are heavily funded.

CHRISTMAS GIFT

“We encourage high investment in the education sector especially on higher education.

“This will be the biggest Christmas gift President Uhuru Kenyatta can give unemployed graduates in Kenya who have lost hope due to hard economic times,” Mr Mwangi told the Nation.

The party has cautioned Helb not to publish information on loan defaulters as the board threatened last month, saying doing so will contravene the privacy of the debtors as enshrined in the Constitution and the recently enacted Data Protection Act, 2019.

“We shall not allow Helb to flout the constitutional regulations on giving out private information to the public. Instead, state agencies should advocate for free tuition and debt-free public colleges and universities,” Mr Mwangi noted.

HELB NOTICE

Last month, Helb issued a 30-day notice saying on its expiry it would publish the names of defaulters.

“Please take note that names and photos of loan beneficiaries who have defaulted repayment of the loans from 1975 will be published in the leading newspapers after expiry of 30 days from the date of this notice,” read the Helb notice.

After the 30 days, it added that it will proceed to take legal actions against the defaulters.

According to Helb, more than 80,000 Kenyans have failed to remit a total of a Sh50 billion in loan repayments.

Defaulters are slapped with a Sh5,000 monthly penalty according to Helb policy.