HELB Will Waive 100 Percent Of COVID-19 Penalties for Two Months.
The Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) has extended its zero-penalty policy for another two months.
Anthony Mutisya 
The waiver, dubbed 'Kamilisha Malipo Ya HELB,' was originally scheduled to run from March 1st to April 30th, 2022, but has now been extended to June 30th, 2022
HELB Chief Executive Officer Charles Ringera said in a statement released on Wednesday that the waiver's expiration coincided with the start of the school year, prompting numerous requests to extend the waiver to give loan beneficiaries more time to take advantage of it.
He claimed that COVID-19 had a negative economic impact, resulting in unemployment, a difficult business environment, and insufficient funding from the National Treasury, posing a funding challenge for students.
"We acknowledge that unemployment and underemployment as well as a challenging environment for loanees to start and run businesses, has affected HELB loan repayment," said Ringera.
Ringera added, "This, coupled with inadequate funding from the Exchequer [The National Treasury], has inadvertently created a funding challenge for students seeking HELB Loans.”
He explained that the move is intended to encourage loanees to repay their loans so that the facility can benefit other students. dents.
The loans board granted a full waiver to 10,110 beneficiaries who paid off 1.3 billion shillings in 2013. In 2018, 9,998 beneficiaries made loan repayments totaling 870 million shillings as a result of the exercise.
