Former Presidential candidate Abduba Dida has weighed on the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) listing defaulters.
In a tweet, Dida said that the board lacks sense listing defaulters. The board had revealed that it will name and shame more than 85,000 defaulters in 30 days. The politician now wants the loan made a grant.
"When publishing this LIST OF POOR KENYANS, can HELB also make columns showing what they studied, their level of education and where they are employed. How do you repay a loan when the education is not helping you? It is time to make HELB a grant, not a loan," he said.
The board had threatened to list the names and publish photos of defaulters. “The names and pictures will be published after the expiry of 30 days from the date of the notice and therefore legal action may be taken against each defaulter,” read part of the statement.
The threat has already elicited mixed reactions from different quarters. Most of the youth decry lack of jobs as one of the reasons they are yet to settle their loans.
In the recent past, Kenyan students have also been pushing for the increment in the loan. Students across all the campuses in the country have been asking the government to listen to their plight.