FALSE: THE GOVERNMENT HAS NOT CANCELED THE HELB LOAN

 

There has been a claim on Facebook that the government has canceled the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) loan.

 

On 9th November 2022, a Facebook post claimed that the government had canceled the HELB loan.

This comes in the backdrop of a heated debate by Kenyans following the recent directive by Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu that the government was going to discontinue  university funding. The Education CS then renounced and pointed out that it was misunderstood for HELB being canceled.

 

Ruben FM looked into the claim to verify its authenticity.

 

The government funds public universities to ensure the proper running of the institutions and also funds students’ fees and other requirements through a loan that students apply for on a needs basis. If approved, the students get the loan which enables them to cater for their education needs.

 

On 6th November 2022, the Education CS Ezekiel Machogu stated that the universities had to find other ways of creating and generating revenue since the funding was going to be cut short. After an uproar from the public, the education CS on 8th November 2022  through his address to the media stated that  the funding would not be cut short:

 

‘…and I want to assure our universities that they have 50 billion and the other 15 billion is for Higher Education Loans Board…’

 

The claim, therefore, that the government is going to cancel the funding to the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) is false and misleading. 

 

This fact check was published by Ruben FM with support from Code for Africa’s PesaCheck and African Fact-Checking Alliance.