Have you defaulted on your HELB loan?

If your answer is in the affirmative, you might want to do something about servicing that loan because the police intend to track you down.

The State, through Education Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed, on Wednesday said the Higher Education Loans Board (Helb) seeks to recover over Sh7.2 billion owed by 74,000 defaulters.

According to Amina, the crackdown will start any time from now in conjunction with law enforcement agencies. She also asked employers to help in tracking down loan defaulters.

“We are also going to partner with our law enforcement agencies to track down those holding jobs and yet are reluctant to stand up to be counted as responsible and patriotic citizens who honour their debts,” she said.

Loan defaulters based in the diaspora will not be exempted from the crackdown either. Helb chief executive Charles Ringera said they will partner with the Foreign Affairs ministry to track them down.

“We are having a large number of graduates leaving the country to work abroad majority who have defaulted,” Mr Ringera noted.

They were speaking during the launch of Helb’s 2019-2023 strategic plan.

Below are some reactions by Kenyans on Twitter: