Parliament summons HESLB over minister’s allegations

Dodoma. The saga involving Education minister Adolf Mkenda and the Higher Education Students Loans Board (HESLB) took a new turn yesterday when Parliament summoned HESLB to appear before a parliamentary committee.

Last week, Prof Mkenda accused HESLB of attempting to frustrate the committee he appointed to audit the board’s performance in the last five years.

The three-member team, which Prof Mkenda appointed in September, was directed to, among other tasks, review the issuance of loans to beneficiaries in the past five years.

It was given a month to complete its assignment, which also included examining complaints about the loan disbursement process.

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Prof Mkenda said the committee – comprising Prof Allen Mushi, Dr Martin Chegere and Mr Iddi Makame – had not been accorded the necessary cooperation by HESLB, and some officials had attempted to pressure the team into abandoning its assignment.

There was no public response from HESLB, but the issue was raised in Parliament yesterday, prompting the Speaker, Dr Tulia Ackson, to direct that HESLB’s top officials appear before the Social Welfare and Community Development Committee on Friday to explain why the board was disregarding the minister’s directives.

“It’s strange for the loans board to ignore the minister’s directives,” she said.

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Prof Mkenda welcomed Dr Ackson’s directive, saying the extent to which the committee he had appointed was being frustrated showed that something fishy was going on within HESLB.

Meanwhile, in a fresh bid to help students who were unable to join universities after failing to acquire loans from HESLB, Parliament yesterday passed a resolution asking the government to ensure that all eligible students were enrolled as other procedures were being worked on.

Earlier, Mr Ezra Chiwelesa (Biharamulo-CCM) moved a motion requesting that the House set aside its programme for the day to debate complaints by students who failed to acquire loans from HESLB.

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Moving his motion, he spoke of a female student from Msalato Secondary School who scored Division One in both the national Form Four and Form Six examinations, but did not get a loan to cater for all her fee requirements, which stand at Sh5 million per year.

“She only got accommodation allowance. This is unacceptable,” Mr Chiwelesa said.

Lawmakers asked the government to act as a matter of urgency to make it possible for all eligible students to join universities this academic year.

Mr Cosato Chumi (Mafinga Urban-CCM) said the government should view the issue of students’ loans as a matter of national concern, and intervene like it did earlier in the year when fuel prices were galloping.

“This is a crisis. We need to come up with solutions now,” he said.

Ms Esther Matiko (Special Seats-Chadema) called for a serious investment in human capital by providing a conducive environment to those with the right qualifications to join universities.

“Human capital is an asset. We need to invest in education. We need to have alternative sources of funds for the purpose,” she said.

Prof Mkenda said in response that the government was engaging the private sector and the Finance ministry to get more funds for students.

Ms Condester Sichalwe (Momba-CCM) was of the view that HESLB should be overhauled for failing to provide loans to students in a transparent manner.

“Education is a tool that our youth can use to transform our country,” she said.

Ms Judith Kapinga (Special Seats-CCM) said it was frustrating to see that eligible students were unable to continue with their studies after failing to secure loans.

“It’s only education that will enable us to take advantage of the country’s huge population,” she said.