When loan financing body Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) made it clear that come 30th September every government student will have received their monies, many students were joyous. As it has been the norm, this money once it gets into their hands, its usage is crafted with immediacy. During this period, it is evident that majority of students will avoid classes until their pockets dry and can no more visit drinking joints.
This money automatically will upgrade many students who otherwise have been surviving on kales throughout the semester. Butcheries will now experience sudden increase in demand for meat. For instance, students at Kisii University who have been visiting Daraja Mbili market in Kisii town for second hand clothes, will now be visiting boutiques to have a taste of classy and expensive clothes.
Boda boda operators are also beneficiaries during this period. A 30 minutes’ walk to town from Kisii University to Kisii town will be a long journey to many after receiving HELB loan. Visits to town will increase as parting with Sh50 won’t be an issue.
It is also not surprising to find those in the drinking league celebrating. They will be spending more time at bars quenching their thirst after a long dry spell of financial crisis. As they will be in the drinking spree, many core issues like paying college fees and attending classes won’t be in their diaries. It will only dawn to them a week before exam that they have been missing classes and cannot acquire an exam card since fee balances have not been settled.
It was a rare but shocking incident last year when a student at a south Nyanza based university frequented his visits to Co-operative bank in Kisii town. A second year student by then, he had made a habit of visiting the bank even twice a day as he withdrew money ranging from Sh200 to Sh500. This habit annoyed one of the tellers at the bank who could not understand why the young man was frequenting the bank. The young man only reduced visits after stern warning from the bank teller.
The irony with many HELB beneficiaries is their inability to adequately utilize the money. Some students receive a whooping Sh50, 000 HELB loan but you cannot differentiate him with a fellow student who is not a beneficiary. Many will appear to be in dire and critical situations when in real sense they are poor financiers.
Why be a millionaire on a single day when the rest of your life you are languishing in abject poverty? Responsibility begins now and not any other day or time in life. If you cannot handle what you have at the moment, then don’t expect to be responsible in future.
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