President William Ruto has announced that thousands of students who depend on government funding through the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) will receive all their pending allocations by the end of this week.
Speaking on the third day of his four-day working tour of Nairobi County at PC Kinyanjui TTI in Dagoretti, the President assured that he had finalised all governmental deliberations to have the money disbursed by Friday.
Ruto noted that he held important discussions with Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba and Head of Public Service Felix Koskei, during which they agreed on a structured plan to ensure the timely release of funds.
"Today, the Head of Public Service is handling the matter, and I have instructed them to ensure that the money reaches the students' accounts by Friday so that everyone can have their resources," Ruto announced.
The Head of State at the same time warned those responsible for the disbursement that should they fail to release the money by Friday, then he will personally hold them accountable.
"If that money has not been reflected in your accounts by then, you can reach out to me. There are people I will have to hold responsible for the same," he added.
Ruto also acknowledged that the government had been facing challenges with the disbursement of the funds, making it difficult for beneficiaries to receive their payments.
"There has been a problem with HELB. Yesterday, I had a meeting with the CS in charge to address the challenges that had been affecting the system," he added.
The delay in releasing the funds to students has in the past sparked a wave of protests from university students who resorted to the streets to petition the government to act.
On February 3, a section of Thika Road was rendered impassable as students from Kenyatta University engaged in a wave of protests to push for the release of the funds.
The students took to the streets in protest over loan delays barricading both sides of the busy highway, leaving the highway near the university impassable.
This happened as their counterparts from the University of Nairobi stormed the HELB headquarters at Anniversary Towers demanding to be told when their allocations would be delivered.
HELB plays a pivotal role in financing higher education for Kenyan students. Annually, HELB supports approximately 180,000 students across various institutions, a successful loan applicant receives between Ksh35,000 and Ksh 60,000 per year.
