The Civic Renewal Party (CRP) has asked the Ministry of Education to write off loans that former university students owe the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB).
CRP which is affiliated to Murang’a Governor Mwangi Wa Iria said the government should step in and write off student loans noting that more than 80,000 Kenyans have failed to service their loans.
CRP official James Mwangi said the hundreds of thousands of graduates are not employed and cannot pay back the loans.
The party said the stress that young people in the country are being subjected to cannot be overemphasized adding that the government should write off the Sh50 billion loan just like they have done to loans owed by some parastatals.
“We appeal to CS George Magoha to cancel all student loan debt for hundreds of thousands of unemployed graduates who owe billions of shillings (to HELB) and place a cap on student loan interest rates going forward at zero rates. This is because of the prevailing environment in the country which has made most of the youth hopeless and increased cases of suicides in the country," he appealed.
“This will be the biggest Christmas gift President Uhuru Kenyatta can give unemployed graduates in Kenya who have lost hope due to hard economic times,” Mwangi added.
Last month, HELB threatened to publish names and photos of loan defaulters in local newspapers if they fail to service their loans, a move CRP faulted.
“We shall not allow HELB to flout the constitutional regulations on giving out private information to the public. Instead, state agencies should advocate for free tuition and debt-free public colleges and universities,” he added.