Embakasi East MP Babu Owino on Wednesday, March 10, threatened to lead a nationwide strike in all universities should the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) delay in disbursing loans to students.
The former University of Nairobi student leader made the announcement following reports that some students at Moi University had gone on strike citing starvation.
"HELB must be disbursed as soon as possible. Otherwise comrades are going to die of hunger... Date to be communicated as soon as possible," Owino declared.
Owino stated that he had contacted the Moi University Vice Chancellor Isaac Sanga Koskey and Helb CEO Charles Ringera to probe the reason for the delay.
"Comrades are the future of this nation and the government must always take their plight with a lot of seriousness. Helb money should be increased and released on time to avoid losing our comrades to hunger," he added.
Owino's sentiments came a day after a memo signed by the school's dean of students acknowledged that there were students who were starving at the University.
"This is to request all students to send details of anyone who is starving to the Dean of students through class reps and student leaders. The details include their names, registration number, telephone numbers, hostel and room number," reads the memo.
Students lamented that they had opted to look for other means of survival after Helb delayed in disbursing the allocated money.
HELB slashed the loans availed to students from Ksh45,000 to Ksh37,000 in December 2020. This affected the students who have to split the amount to cater for fees, meals, upkeep among other expenses.
A number of students have on a number of times lamented about their woos on the HELB social media pages.
"Hi @HELBpage I have only had strong tea without sugar today, and I have not paid my school fees as well, kindly help," a student by the name Don Blueh stated.
"I have not yet received my semester 2 tuition fee. What's the status?" another student questioned.
The statutory body is, however, yet to respond to the students on what is causing the delays.
