Loan agency Helb can do better than criminalising defaulters

If there were 1,000 ways to die in this country, then being a young person would be top of the list.

This is because the government has shown that the only way to communicate with the Kenyan youth is through scaremongering, threats, intimidation and violence.

Two weeks ago, the Higher Education Loans Board (Helb) issued a circular warning graduates who have not been repaying their student loans that they have a 30-day grace period to negotiate a repayment plan or risk being named and shamed in the press.

There is certainly something wrong with a government that uses threats to coerce loan defaulters.

Helb is founded on the spirit of pain-alleviation and soft landing. Young Kenyans sign up with them not because they enjoy repaying it with interest, but because it is a financial measure of last resort.

No one in their right minds runs to a loan agency if they have the ability to finance their higher education.

A university degree is an important tool. It gives you a competitive advantage while navigating today’s treacherous job environment.

BREACH OF TRUST

Acquiring a university education might not be a matter of life and death, but it certainly empowers you with knowledge that helps you know your rights to stand up against government oppression.

A prosperous Kenya will be one that has a more informed citizenry, with knowledge of their human rights and courageous enough to defend them.

Were it not for Helb, many beneficiaries would have found it difficult to pursue this necessary higher education.

Helb was a timely financial intervention by the government to even out the socioeconomic playing field for the rich and poor student alike. We have to give the devil its due.

The problem with the Helb model, however, begins immediately after beneficiaries complete their coursework.

Even before you start planning for your graduation, torrents of reminders begin flooding your phone, reminding you to begin repaying your student loan or risk having your personal data shared with other lenders to bar you from accessing credit facilities going forward.

Helb is rightfully aggrieved by the failure of graduates to repay their student loan, but any attempt to expose loan defaulters will not only amount to a breach of public trust but will also be an exercise in bad faith.

LACK OF JOBS

No one in their right minds would refuse to repay a student loan. What young graduates want is for Helb to understand the economic environment we find ourselves in, and exercise humanity in dealing with defaulters.

Young people in this country are dealing with a government that neither keeps its promises nor shows remorse for their failure to do so.

Our economic situation would have been different had the Jubilee government created the 500,000 jobs they promised.

Graduates would have no problem servicing their loans had the government promise of paying jobless graduates a monthly stipend been actualised.

Jobless graduates aren’t alone in this financial black hole. The government has been using taxpayers’ money to write off bad debts owed by coffee and tea farmers running into billions of shillings.

Just this year, the government borrowed money from our international friends to help Kenya Airways offset a loan in excess of Sh20 billion that the troubled carrier had borrowed years ago.

Parliament okayed the bailout, arguing that Kenya cannot afford to watch their favourite bird fall out of the sky if they could help it.

DIGNITY

The Helb repayment terms are already punitive, but young people have not complained because they have been waiting for their financial situation to improve to start negotiating a repayment plan.

Exposing them in the dailies for defaulting, therefore, not only erodes what little goodwill they had towards repaying their loan, but also validates that this government does not care for their plight, and it is needless to keep loving someone who doesn't reciprocate your love.

This is not the way to handle a young population bereft of career opportunities and running out of hope.

This generation needs to be treated with dignity and respect to give them a reason to love their country.

We cannot afford to hand over the steering wheel of this country to the next generation of national elders already battered with threats and humiliation, and who cannot wait to vent their anger at a government that shows little care for their collective welfare.

If the youth of this country resort to resistance and rebellion, it is because we have pushed them into a corner with our high-handedness, and we will have only ourselves to blame.

The writer comments on topical issues; [email protected]