Helb Loan Defaulters To Be Taken To Court
The Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) is pursuing loan defaulters in an effort to collect about Ksh10.5 billion in debt due to it by beneficiaries.
Lydia Kadima 
HELB Chief Executive Officer Charles Ringera stated that the loan company has taken legal action against 109,000 beneficiaries whose debt has been classified as "hardcore" since the defaulters have not made any effort to repay for nearly ten years.
“We chase one another for like three years before now we say this debt is now approaching hardcore. However, if during the intervening period, you have actually been able to see us, then nobody will list you.
“On KRA, you can see they are paying taxes, on NTSA you can see they are buying their Subarus. This is how we are chasing one another. That is why we become a little bit hard in terms of even thinking about prosecution," Ringera explained.
Ringera revealed that the government agency had already filed lawsuits against five hardcore defaulters, despite the fact that the agency had originally targeted seven.
According to the CEO, HELB takes drastic actions ten years after the defaulter is listed with credit bureaus and private debt collectors have failed.
“When private debt collectors are unable to trace or get where you are, on about the tenth year, which is actually supposed to be the life of the loan, we now start taking prosecution aspects,” Ringera was quoted by The Standard.
Loan repayment does not begin immediately after graduation; instead, beneficiaries are given a year to settle in and, most likely, find work.
“Finish your school on fourth-year then you are given one year to settle. So that time, nobody is even harassing you,” Ringera said.
After the seventh year, HELB sends a defaulter's information to private debt collectors. In 2021, the student loans board issued a notice to 85,000 Kenyans, warning them that if they did not pay their loans, they will be posted on the CRB.
HELB is attempting to recoup at least Ksh4.9 billion two years after repayments were halted because to the economy's volatility caused by the Covid-19 outbreak. It had to disburse funding to 329,000 people out of 500,000 who applied due to the crisis.
Even after several attempts by the government agency to recover the funds, some of the beneficiaries chose not to pay their loans, according to the loans board.
Wavi Muigai, HELB Communications Director, stated that plans are in place to guarantee that defaulters pay and that defaulters risk being put on the CRB. He further stated that people who are attempting to pay off their debts on a regular basis are subjected to tags.
