My attention has been drawn to a statement made by Education CS Amina Mohamed to the effect that the police will be incorporated into recovering HELB loans from an estimated 74,000 defaulters.
CS Amina’s proposal is similar to a chef using a jembe to cut tomatoes in the kitchen – the wrong tools in the wrong hands can cause a lot of damage!
The question the Kenya 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.
CS Amina is disconnected from the reality of Kenyan life where majority of graduates are either unemployed or earning peanuts.
The Kenya Government must shift its focus from punishing people for being poor to seeking solutions on how to create jobs for our youth.
Kenyans expect to hear the CS give ideas on how to engage graduates so that they can not only pay their HELB loans but even sponsor extra students to complete their studies.
On my part, as a leader, I continue to engage with private companies in my constituency offering them incentives for employing youths from Embakasi East and I urge the Government to replicate the same on a national scale.
Comrade Babu Owino,
MP, Embakasi East and Leader, Youth For Africa Movement.