Traffic along Thika Road after students held protest over delayed Helb disbursement/HANDOUT
A section of university students staged protests in separate places over delays in Higher Education Loans Board (Helb) disbursements.
Those from Kenyatta University blocked a section of Thika Road for hours. Police later dispersed the group after the move caused major traffic disruption.
Another group staged their protest around the Anniversary Towers that hosts the Higher Education Loans Board. They included University of Nairobi (UoN) students. They stormed the Helb offices demanding the disbursement of student loans.
Following the incident, the Higher Education Loans Board (Helb) announced that it had resorted to disbursing the funds to first and second-year students using the old model as they await a decision on appeal against the High Court suspension of the new model.
During their march to the Helb offices, the students gathered outside Anniversary Towers, chanting and criticising the board's management over the financial delays. Police, however, denied the students entry into the board's offices while urging them to go back to school.
Transport Thika Road was paralysed for a better part of Monday morning after students from Kenyatta University staged a march towards the Nairobi CBD to join their comrades from UoN on the issue of delays.
On December 20, 2024, the High Court issued a ruling declaring the new university funding model as illegal and unconstitutional.
Justice Chacha Mwita ruled that the fund introduced in May last year was unlawful due to its lack of legal foundation, discriminatory nature, and failure to involve public participation.
"It should have been subjected to the public so that the public comments before its implementation," Justice Mwita noted.
Egerton University students have also issued an ultimatum for Helb to release funds within 12 hours. The delays have frustrated many students under the new University Funding Model.
Helb said it will process payments for first- and second-year students under the previous system while awaiting the outcome of its appeal challenging the High Court’s decision to halt the new funding model.
Elsewhere at Technical University of Kenya (TUK), students joined lecturers and non-teaching staff in their strike over unpaid salary arrears.
The strike has disrupted this week's planned exams, causing students to be frustrated as they are left without clear guidance on the way forward, with many classrooms locked.
