This archive report was first published on 23 November 2019.
On November 23, 2019, 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.
However, critics argue that this approach is not only punitive but also unfair, as it fails to take into account the economic environment that many graduates are facing.
According to Gabriel Oguda, writing for the Nation, Helb was founded on the spirit of pain-alleviation and soft landing, and young Kenyans sign up with them not because they enjoy repaying it with interest, but because it is a financial measure of last resort.
He argues that no one in their right minds runs to a loan agency if they have the ability to finance their higher education, and that a university degree is an important tool that gives you a competitive advantage while navigating today's treacherous job environment.
However, the problem with the Helb model begins immediately after beneficiaries complete their coursework, with reminders flooding their phones to begin repaying their student loan or risk having their personal data shared with other lenders.
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.
Young people in this country are dealing with a government that neither keeps its promises nor shows remorse for their failure to do so, and 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, as the government has been using taxpayers' money to write off bad debts owed by coffee and tea farmers running into billions of shillings.
Parliament okayed the bailout, arguing that Kenya cannot afford to watch their favourite bird fall out of the sky if they could help it.
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.
