The Higher Education Loans Board(HELB) has resorted to hiring debt collectors to carry out the mandate of loan recovery.
In a public notice dated Tuesday 25 October 2022, the board invited interested bidders to apply.
HELB, a board responsible for giving loans to students pursuing their tertiary level studies, has been grappling with non-repayment of such loans.
All bidders interested in participating in the tender must notify HELB of their participation in the tender by emailing their contact details
HELB
”All bidders interested in participating in the tender must notify HELB of their participation in the tender by emailing their contact details,” read the notice in part.
Through the notice, all interested bidders are to alert and reach out to the institute of their interest by November 9th at 11:00 am.
Recovery of these loans began in the Financial Year 2019/2020 and over Ksh 200 million has been recovered to date.
Defaulters
Past reports indicated that the number of Kenyans who defaulted on the loan increased during the Covid-19 period.
According to the last report issued by HELB, 87,371 defaulters are holding up to Sh.8.4 billion, while 235,833 loan accounts valued at Sh.36.3 billion are in repayment,
In 2019,the institution had announced that it would list all defaulters with CRB and penalise them a total of Sh.5,000 a month according to the HELB Act.
We are currently working on the disbursements and that shall be communicated once payment is done
HELB
The debt collection push was in a bid to help the institution meet its financial obligations.
This comes at a time HELB has been accused of holding back the loans forcing some students to defer studies.
Addressing the issue through their twitter page, HELB released a statement saying fund disbursement is in process.
“We are currently working on the disbursements and that shall be communicated once payment is done.”
