University Students Go on the Rampage After HELB Delays

Machakos University Students on November 2 staged protests over government’s failure to disburse the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) and the Higher Education Funding (HEF) for First-year students.

Speaking to The Kenya Times, the university leaders affirmed they were leading peaceful demonstrations since the students have not yet received any funds from the government.

According to them, some students would be unable to sit for examinations since they could not register for their various units and life had become unbearable for most students.

“Some first-year students have paid as little as low as Ksh 9700, since they were expecting to get funds from the government,” the Student’s Finance Leader noted.

In a joint statement, the student leaders noted that the government promised to disburse university capitation in the first two weeks after opening.

Also Read: Azimio Issues Demands on University Fees & Admission

“The government promised to give capitation to all universities within the first two weeks, have they done that?” Ian Kibet Rop, the university president asked.

Notably, in the early morning of Thursday, November 2, the students engaged in a cat and mouse games with the police leading to a temporary closure of the Machakos-Wote Road. 

Other Student Protests

On October 3, the Multimedia University engaged in running battles with anti-riot police over the delayed disbursement of HELB funds. They also accused the varsity of closing the student portal before they were through with the registration process.

Also Read: University Students Hold Protests After Babu Owino’s Call

Earlier, Embakasi East Member of Parliament, Paul Ongili, alias Babu Owino, had shared a video wondering why the student leaders were quiet when the government had not released the HELB funds.

According to the MP, the silence by student leaders was an act of betrayal to the comrades who elected them to office.

“HELB must never delay! Student leaders, you are sleeping, you are wasting constituents who elected you, instead of representing them, you are misrepresenting them. You must wake up, come out and call for demos. Let HELB not delay even for one minute,” Babu lamented.