Debt collectors set to trace Helb defaulters

Debt collectors will be enlisted to track down defaulters of government university loans beginning this month.

This follows the expiry of a two-week ultimatum issued to the past loanees to present their details to the board to speed up repayment.

The Higher Education Loans Board is also preparing to forward names of defaulters to credit reference bureaus for action, including blacklisting them for credit access.

A notice issued last month to former beneficiaries who were not repaying their loans expired at the weekend.

In the notice, the board informed defaulters that it planned to engage the services of debt collectors to recover the amount owing.

“To avoid the above, all beneficiaries currently not repaying their loans are required to forward to the board their names, identity card numbers and current postal addresses,” said the notice.

“They should also forward their current employers’ names and postal address.”

Loanees who are unemployed or self employed were also required to provide all their details.

Those targeted are the ones who took up loans under the defunct Higher Education Loans Fund, the Education ministry and Helb.

Meanwhile, about 3,000 needy public university students will benefit from a Sh16 million donation by a local charity to pay fees this year.

The Rattansi Educational Trust released the money on Monday. The cash will also benefit some needy students from private universities.
But those picked from public universities will benefit more since their fees are lower than those enrolled in private institutions.
On average, regular students in public universities pay about Sh50,000 per academic year.

They are also eligible to government loans from Helb to clear the balances.

According to the donation schedule released on Monday, University of Nairobi’s needy students will take the lion’s share of the allocation, after they were awarded Sh1.6 million.