The Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) Chief Executive Officer, Geoffrey Monari, has revealed that the agency recovered Ksh5.21 billion in the 2024/2025 financial year.
Appearing before the National Assembly's Education Committee on Monday, July 14, Monari disclosed that the funds were recovered after HELB traced over 17,000 defaulters through a joint effort with other government agencies.
According to the HELB CEO, the defaulters were traced through digital footprints by leveraging existing data from the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) and linking with the defaulter's employer's audits.
For defaulters who are already dead, HELB collaborated with the Civil Registration Services, which led to the writing off of Ksh347 million in deceased loanee accounts.
Monari made the pronouncement after the lawmakers pressed him to explain the low rate of loan recovery among graduates, with reports indicating that about Ksh15 billion remains in default.
“We did a study and found that it takes an average of six years for some graduates to get a job. Even among those working, underemployment makes repayment difficult,” Monari told the Committee.
“With the high number of unfunded students, how do you decide who gets a loan? We must enhance recovery to fund more deserving students,” she said.
To further address growing defaults, Monari said HELB is exploring an income-contingent repayment (ICR) model and flexible options such as weekly payments targeting informal sector workers.
MPs also expressed concern about the opacity of bursary awards and questioned the rationale behind the proposed consolidation of bursaries under the Loans Board.
“We previously had consolidated bursaries under the Ministry of Education, and they did not benefit everyone. What safeguards are you putting in place this time?” asked Mandera South MP, Abdul Haro.
In response, the HELB CEO clarified that the proposal only seeks to consolidate information, not funds. “We want to ensure students don’t double-dip from HELB, counties, and banks without full disclosure,” he said.
However, the MPs commended HELB for automating services and launching self-service portals but urged the agency to do more to address eCitizen system failures and diaspora repayments.
