Agency tightens noose on employees and employers

By AUGUSTINE ODUOR

Kenya: You may soon not load your telephone credit card, access insurance cover services or enjoy electricity power supply in your house if you are a university loans defaulter.

Employers who fail to remit monthly deductions of their employees will also spend lots of money in legal fees as Higher Education Loans Board (Helb) readies itself for court battle to recover unpaid billions.

These are part of strategies Helb is adopting to ensure all Kenyans repay their study loans.

The CEO Charles Ringera said they have signed many data sharing pacts with various agencies in a bid to tighten loan recovery strategy.

He said they have already signed a pact with National Social Security Fund (NSSF), Capital Markets Authority (CMA), National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) and Kenya Revenue Authority to track and make defaulters pay their loans.

“Once we have these, we shall be tracking each individual. We are also using social media platforms to know who is doing what, where and whether they are able to repay the loans,” he said.

He said through tracking, Helb will be able to identify those who have insurance cover, for instance, and this will show that the graduate has some level of income.

“We will then use the contacts to trace the person and remind them to pay,” he said. Ringera added the same will apply to those who pay tax.

“We would want to know those employers who remit other fees to various corporations but fail to collect our dues,” he said.

He said telephone companies will also not allow any defaulter to use their services on the basis that they cannot be trusted with credit facilities.

“Kenya Power will tell you that they cannot connect you to their grid because you do not pay debts. Even the telephone company will not lend you cash,” he said.

Go to court

Ringera said after lapse of the one-month amnesty, a team of 16 internal prosecutors will hit the road to drag defaulters to court.

According to Geoffrey Monari, Loans Recovery and Repayment Manager, every employer will receive a 14-day notice asking them to prepare for Helb visit.

“We shall request for identification numbers or all their employees and the payroll of our clients,” he said.

Monari said each employer will be serviced with a billing schedule to facilitate payment of the loans.

“We shall then give a 21 days notice to comply failure of which we shall move to court to compel them to make payments,” he said.

He thanked all those who responded to the waiver.