The Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) has resorted to using debt collectors to recover the billions in arrears.
In a notice seen by Kenyans.co.ke, the board invited interested, reputable firms with extensive experience to apply for debt collection services.
Interested bidders were requested to obtain further information and inspect the tender documents at the procurement office on the 18th floor of Anniversary Towers during normal working hours.
In addition, they were urged to view and download the respective detailed tender adverts and tender documents from the website www (dot) helb (dot) co(dot) ke (slash) procurement or https (full colon) (slash)tenders (dot) go (dot) ke
Interested applicants ought to notify HELB of their participation in the tender process by emailing their contact details to their official email address in case of any further addendum.
"All bidders interested in participating in the tender must notify HELB of their participation in the tender by emailing their contact details to procurement@helb.co.ke in case of any further addendum," read part of the notice.
The closing date is set for Wednesday, November 9, 2022, at 11 am.
In September 2022, HELB revealed that the number of former university students who had defaulted on loans had dropped by 20 percent in the past six months. This led to a drop from Ksh10.2 billion to Ksh8.4 billion.
“Some 87,391 accounts holding a total of Ksh8.4 billion are in default, while 235,833 loan accounts valued at Ksh36.3 billion are in repayment,” HELB revealed in a statement.
The move mirrored a similar instance in June 2022, when the University of Nairobi (UoN) sought debt collectors to track former students and recover over Ksh5 billion owed in arrears.
The debt collection push was in a bid to help the institution meet its financial obligations, with the majority of public universities grappling with a biting cash crunch.
