Makueni Senator Mutula Kilonzo Junior has differed with Education Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed over threat that the Higher Education Loans Board loan defaulters would be arrested and jailed.
According to the vocal senator, the move is ill-timed and ill-motivated.
He warned that a nation where unemployed persons are frustrated. The lawmaker said that the government should look for ways to help the unemployed youth rather than threatening to arrest them if they do not comply with the loan terms and conditions with immediate.
“To be poor is not crime! To get a degree on loan is not an offense. We have not asked for anyone to be arrested for committing us to national debt. Coffee, maize, sugar and other debts are waived at a drop of a hat! Give the youth a break,” he tweeted on Saturday.
The threat to put defaulter behind bars continues to elicit mixed reactions from different factions. A majority of Kenyans feel the government is not keen on assisting the youths who are yet to get employment since they left school.
Mutula has asked the government to pursue alternative ways to recover the money from defaulters rather than putting them behind bars for being unable to settle their loans as they promised.