Forget about the Former Education CS Amina Mohammed who had suggested arrests on HELB defaulters, the new measure is now targeting the guarantors.
A guarantor is a person that gives the sense of assurance in a deal of a form of business.
Guarantors of Higher Education Loans Board (Helb) loanees will soon be forced to service loans for beneficiaries if Parliament approves a motion tabled by Wajir Senator Abdullahi Ibrahim Ali. At least Sh7.2 billion is yet to be repaid by 74,000 loanees.
Annually, the government spends over Sh12 billion to pay fees for qualified university and technical college students.
According to the senator, measures taken to enhance Helb loan recovery had not yielded any fruit. “The loan guarantors should be pursued and forced to service the loan.”
He recommended the Ministry of Education and Helb institute a six-month full waiver of all the interests and penalties accrued, including the lifting of Credit Reference Bureau records for defaulters willing to repay the loans in entirety.
Further, Ali said Helb should embark on a 45-day sensitisation exercise preceding the waiver, not later than 90 days after the passage of the motion.
“When beneficiaries fail to remit monthly instalments for more than three months, Helb reports them to Credit Reference Bureaus (CRB),” he said.
As a result, the loan recipients end up being prevented from accessing loan facilities from other financial institutions and accessing employment opportunities in government agencies, major private institutions and publicly listed companies.
Immediate former Education CS Amina Mohamed had threatened to enlist the services of police to help Helb recover billions of shillings owed by defaulters. However, she rescinded the decision after public outcry.