Loans board struggles to recover K16bn

 The Higher Education Student’s Loans and Grants Board (HESLGB) says it is struggling to recover K16 billion from its beneficiaries.

The board’s executive director Prince Phwetekele said this on Friday in Dowa District where he briefed stakeholders on the status of students’ loans.

He said: “We have been struggling to recover loans amounting to K16 billion from our beneficiaries. Since government is the biggest employer, we have engaged human resource officers from government ministries, departments and agencies [MDAs] to deduct the loans from beneficiaries’ salaries.

“We have this year received over 20 000 applications from needy students. So, we need to recover the money to top up with funds we get from government.”

Phwetekele said the K16 billion dates back to 2015 when they got Parliament’s nod to disburse and recover loans from students.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs human resources manager Clement Gumuka stressed the need for MDAs to provide information to the board about defaulters.

“I propose that MDAs should list all defaulters and submit their names to the board for an appropriate action. We need to be transparent and work together to recover the funds,” he said.

Gumuka said the law allows them to deduct money from the defaulters’ salaries.

He described the meeting as the right platform to strategise on how the board could recover its funds.

The board is mandated to provide loans and award grants to needy students in Malawi’s accredited institutions of higher learning.

It is also charged with recovering mature loans from its beneficiaries.