Helb offers a full penalty waiver to loanees.

Higher Education Loans Board (Helb) loan recipients will not have to pay penalties on their loans between March and April of 2022.

This comes after the State Corporation announced a Covid-19 penalty waiver of 100 per cent for its loanees who repay their loans in full.

The campaign, dubbed #KamilishaMalipoYaHelb, will run from March 1, 2022, to April 30, 2022, to encourage Helb loan recipients to repay their loans.

According to Helb CEO Charles Ringera, the Covid-19 pandemic has slowed the economy in Kenya, as it has in many other countries around the world, over the last two years.

This has had an impact on the repayment ability of the loan recipients, which may take some time to stabilize due to the current economic situation.

“As a result, HELB wishes to announce a 100 percent Covid-19 Penalty waiver dubbed #KamilishaMalipoYaHELB from March 1, 2022 to April 30, 2022 to loanees as an appreciation for their commitment to repay their loans, even with the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as to encourage loanees who haven’t started repaying to do so and repay in lump sum,” Mr Ringera said.

He also stated that unemployment and underemployment, as well as a difficult environment for loanees to start and run businesses, have had an impact on Helb loan repayment.

This, combined with insufficient Exchequer funding, has inadvertently created a funding challenge for students seeking Helb loans.

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“It is critical for all beneficiaries to fulfill their obligations as specified in the loan application terms and conditions in order to empower the dreams of another needy student,” he said.

In 2013, a similar campaign netted Helb Sh1.3 billion from 10,100 beneficiaries who used the penalty waiver window to pay off their loans. The agency received Sh870 million from 9,998 beneficiaries in 2018.