On Monday, traffic and key activities in Nairobi’s Central Business District (CBD) around the Anniversary Towers that hosts the Higher Education Loans Board were brought to a standstill after University of Nairobi (UoN) students stormed the offices demanding 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.
HELB’s announcement was, however, set to bring more unease to the tense situation with the board struggling to ensure that they address the plight of the students amid the confusion over the suspension of the New University funding model.
The UoN students, in a press statement delivered on Sunday by their President Rocha Madzayo, revealed that they will be marching to the HELB offices following delays in disbursement of student loans.
A section of Thika Road blocked by protesting University students on Monday, February 3, 2025.
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@WachirakiiNyaga
”This is not just happening to us but also to other students across the country. We are deeply compelled by the plight of many students in our country who are facing financial struggles,” Madzayo announced.
The students added that they feared that some would miss course registration deadlines, aside from other financial challenges.
During their march to the HELB offices, the students gathered outside Anniversary Towers, chanting and criticizing 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 on Nairobi’s Thika Road was paralysed for a better part of Monday morning after students from Kenyatta University staged a march towards the town centre to join their comrades from UoN on the issue of delays.
Videos obtained by Kenyans.co.ke showed tens of students marching on the busy highway, with some insisting they were going to storm Anniversary Towers to enquire about the status of the HELB loan.
Motorists were since been advised to seek alternative routes as the demonstrations came with major traffic snarl-ups stretching from the Githurai 44 area to Kenyatta University.
On December 20 last year, 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.
People waiting to be served at the HELB offices in Nairobi.
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