Story of Kenyan who sued HELB over interest rates.
Story of Kenyan who sued HELB over interest rates is among the three petitioners who filed a law suit against the higher education loans board.
Anne Jacinta has a degree in political science. She however, could not secure herself a job for a period of seven years after graduation.
She said,”We were in the job market but trying to get a job was very hard. I started door to door sales. I remember I started paying the loan at around 2002 after getting a good job.
When she landed on job, her agreement with the employer was that, ksh.2000 said will be deducted monthly for the purposes of paying back the HELB loan. However, the employer did not remit the ksh.2000.
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Jacinta said,”I was paying Ksh2,000 per month and (the employer) was deducting Ksh2,000 per month. I later found out that they were not remitting.”
She recalled loosing the job and life after that was so unbearable. With a baby to feed, and a loan to payback.In addition to her troubles, she got a call that the loan had accrued.
She stated,”I lost that job and I had a small baby. I got calls that I have a loan of half a million because of the penalties and interest.”
Jacinta further explained that she never got prior emails indicating how far the loan has gone, the company she was working for earlier, was also shut down.
She stated,”If they had sent me an email telling me that I have not been paying this loan, then I would have gone after these companies because right now one of the companies has gone under.”
However, to her relief, Benjamin a graduate from law school took over her case and the high court ruled in Jacinta’s favour.
High court stated,”A declaration hereby issues that the respondent is not entitled to recover from the petitioners or its loanees an amount exceeding double the amount advanced in contravention of the in duplum rule.”