More than Ksh.40 billion in student loans remains unpaid by thousands of Kenyans, some of whom borrowed over two decades ago, according to the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB). CEO Geoffrey Monari revealed this concerning statistic during an interview with Citizen TV on Tuesday, attributing the persistent defaulting to informal employment and poor repayment culture among professionals.
HELB, which provides loans to students pursuing higher education, is facing growing challenges in recovering funds meant to sustain future learners. Monari disclosed that 51,594 individuals who graduated over 20 years ago owe Ksh.8 billion, while another Ksh.6.6 billion is tied to 23,786 graduates from 17 to 12 years ago. The largest chunk—Ksh.26 billion—is held by approximately 230,000 individuals who completed their studies between one and eleven years ago.
“A good number of these defaulters are still in transition between jobs or trying to stabilize in life,” Monari said.
Professional sectors show stark disparities in repayment compliance. While 11 percent of accountants (2,420) are actively repaying their loans, a staggering 18,000 in private practice have defaulted. In the medical field, only 18 percent of practicing doctors (2,115) are repaying, with 11,701 yet to service their loans.
In contrast, teachers exhibit the best repayment record, with 44,000 actively repaying and only about 3,500 in default. However, the legal profession fares poorly—only 2,644 out of over 23,000 lawyers have paid their loans. Among engineers, out of 24,883 graduates, just 1,594 have cleared their loans and only 894 are making repayments.
Monari attributed the difficulty in tracking defaulters to informal employment, particularly in the private sector, which limits HELB’s ability to enforce repayment. HELB loans, which carry an interest rate of 4 percent per annum, are expected to be repaid upon graduation.
To intensify recovery efforts, HELB recently blacklisted over 71,800 defaulters. Monari emphasized that the outstanding Ksh.40 billion could fund the education of at least 289,000 students for one academic year, underscoring the urgent need for increased compliance and systemic reform in loan recovery mechanisms
