This archive report was first published on 19 November 2019.
Embakasi East Member of Parliament Babu Owino has announced plans to seek a court injunction to bar the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) from publishing names and photos of loan defaulters in local newspapers.
The move comes after HELB issued a 30-day notice to Kenyans to service their loans, warning that defaulters would be named and shamed in the press and face legal action.
Speaking to KTN News, Mr. Owino dismissed the notice, arguing that publishing the names and photos of Kenyans in newspapers would be a breach of their right to privacy.
He also called on President Uhuru Kenyatta to write off HELB loans, citing the state of joblessness among the youth in the country.
“In my own thinking, the loan should not be paid because education is a fundamental human right as envisaged in the Constitution. The government has a right to educate its citizens,” said Mr. Owino.
Mr. Owino, who was a beneficiary of the HELB loan while in university, stated that he would not pay his loan, saying “HELB is joking around with Kenyans.”
HELB had earlier stated that at least 85,000 Kenyans have failed to service a loan of Ksh.50 billion issued since 1975.
