A planned protest by university students over delay to release their Higher Education Loand Board (HELB) loans has been postponed. Sonu chairman Babu Owino who was coordinating the strike said Monday they will wait until Wednesday when the ministry and Helb say they will have released the money. “We will hold a meeting with Helb today (Monday) because they say they have disbursed the money. We will then wait to see if the money will be released by Wednesday as promised. A crisis meeting between Helb officials and education PS Belio Kipsang was held Sunday and agreed that allocations and award to all successful students was to be completed by Tuesday. The successful students will get text messages to confirm their money is in. There were 110,000 applications that were made to Helb for loans but 70,000 will benefit the Sh2.5 billion loan. The students had planned to block major roads in Nairobi. According to the plan the students were to block roads near Kikuyu campus, Upper Kabete, Lower Kabete, Kenya Science, Kenyatta National Hospital, Main Campus and Chiromo Campus. “Main campus to block university way which is our way and make sure Ringera does not leave the Anniversary Towers Building. They are also to block Lower State House Road so that the president does not find his way out of the State House,” read part of the plan. Police said they are aware of the planned strike and urged for calm from the students as authorities address their demands. “We urge the students to address their issues peacefully and stop violence because their grievances are being addressed. We do not need protests,” said Nairobi Area head of police Benson Kibue. The students had last year protested over delay by Helb. This paralysed learning in most institutions.
Posted on: Tue, 27 Jan 2015 05:36:17 +0000
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