HELB wants those looking for jobs to be examined for loan status

Kenyan jobseekers will soon require the Higher Education Loans Board (Helb) clearance to qualify for employment with private companies, proposed regulations aimed at reducing student loan defaults say.

Helb chief executive Charles Ringera said the agency was working with the Federation of Kenya Employers (FKE) to develop guidelines that would require employers to screen new employees for student loan status when hiring them.

“We are working with the FKE to develop regulations that will ensure employers comply with subsection 16 of the Helb Act and in line with Chapter 6 of the Constitution,” said Mr Ringera, adding that status checks before employment in the private sector is one of the strategies the agency is pursuing to enhance loan recoveries.

Currently, only those seeking employment in government are required to get Helb clearance indicating whether they are servicing or have completed repaying their loans.

Those seeking employment with national and county governments and parastatals must also get clearance from the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), credit reference bureaus as well as the Directorate of Criminal Investigation.

In recent years, many applicants for public service jobs have been kicked out of interview rooms after failing to produce Helb clearance certificates.

A selection panel set up to establish the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission, for instance, disqualified lawyer Isaac Mutoka Shivachi in 2011 from pursuing employment with the agency for failing to repay his Helb loan.

Job seekers have to pay Sh1,000 to get the clearance certificate from Helb, whether or not they benefited from the loan programme.

Private sector employees are currently not required to present Helb clearance certificates before employment but firms hiring graduates have to notify Helb upon recruitment.

Firms are fined Sh3,000 per month for each defaulting employee if they do not disclose to Helb that their workers are past Helb beneficiaries.

Helb also levies a monthly fine of Sh5,000 on all past beneficiaries not servicing their loans after the one-year grace period upon graduating.

Mr Ringera said the law binding private sector employers to demand clearance certificates from Helb before hiring new employees is expected to take legal effect immediately Education secretary Jacob Kaimenyi publishes the new regulations in the Kenya Gazette.

The new provisions are meant to make Helb comply with Chapter Six of the Constitution — which provides guiding principles for governance — meet the demands of the Leadership and Integrity Act.

Helb has information sharing agreements with the KRA, the National Hospital Insurance Fund and the National Social Security Fund that it uses to track past loan beneficiaries.