NAIROBI, Kenya —More than 20 years after some Kenyans borrowed money to fund their education, the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) is still chasing repayment, over Ksh.40 billion worth of it.
HELB CEO Geoffrey Monari, in an interview with Citizen TV on Tuesday, revealed that loan defaulters span decades, from recent graduates to those who left school more than two decades ago. And the numbers are staggering.
“We’re looking at 51,594 people who graduated over 20 years ago still holding onto Sh8 billion,” Monari said. “Those who graduated between 12 and 17 years ago—about 23,786 individuals—owe Sh6.6 billion.”
But the biggest chunk? A massive Sh26 billion is owed by approximately 230,000 individuals who completed school between 1 and 11 years ago. According to Monari, most are still “in between jobs and settling down,” a reason often cited for the lag in repayments.
The problem, however, isn’t just timing. It’s also tracing. HELB struggles to follow up with borrowers working in the informal private sector, where job transitions are common and recordkeeping is inconsistent.
Profession-wise, repayment varies widely—and perhaps surprisingly. Accountants, for instance, are among the least compliant: of the 24,000 active professionals, only 2,420 are paying back their loans, while 18,000 are in private practice but off HELB’s repayment radar.
It doesn’t get better in medicine. Only 18 percent of practicing doctors are currently repaying their loans. Out of 11,701 medics with outstanding loans, just 2,115 are in good standing.
Engineers? Out of 24,883 graduates, only 1,594 have cleared their loans and 894 are currently paying. The legal profession doesn’t shine either. Of the 23,000 lawyers who received HELB support, just 2,644 have repaid.
There is, however, one silver lining: teachers. Monari praised the education sector for showing the highest repayment rate. Around 44,000 teachers are servicing their loans, while only about 3,500 have defaulted.
To tighten the noose, HELB has already blacklisted 71,806 loan defaulters in an effort to recover the mounting debt. These funds, Monari noted, could finance the education of 289,000 students for an entire academic year—something HELB can’t afford to overlook.
HELB loans, which carry a 4 percent annual interest rate, are issued to support tuition fees for students in universities and colleges, with repayment expected to begin after graduation.
But with Sh40 billion still hanging in limbo and loan recovery proving elusive, the Board is left walking a tightrope between compassion and accountability in a country where formal employment is no longer the norm.
