Ex-university students owe Malawi govt K1.7bn in upaid loans
Former students of the University of Malawi (Unima) and Mzuzu University (Mzuni) owe government are still owing government at least about K1.7 billion ($2.5 million) which they obtained for tuition loans between 1985 and 2012 which the State, through the Higher Education Students’ Loans and Grants Board (HESL&GB) has embarked on the recovery of the from the borrowers .
The board’s director of loans, Emma Tambala, confirmed that former public university students owe government over K1.7 billion in loans.
Some public universities alumni have faulted the government for its complacency in dealing with the loan recovery process, arguing that they have been willing to repay the loans but the government has not shown interest.
In 2010, government decided to start channeling funds for the students’ loans through the Malawi Savings Bank (MSB) with the aim of strengthening the recovery process but the system flopped and the bank stopped processing the loans.
Meanwhile, Higher Education Students’ Loans and Grants Board urges all loan beneficiaries within the said period to verify with its Secretariat on the status of their loans and agree on the modalities of repayment.
The Board said in a statement issued last week, that it has set 12 months from April 2016 as a period for the matured loans to be repaid in full so as to meet the evergrowing demand for loans to finance higher education for needy and deserving students.
“The Board will do all it can to recover all the overdue students’ loans which are public funds expected to develop into a revolving fund that will benefit all the upcoming generations of our nation,” reads the statement in part issued by its chairman Chris Chisoni.
The board further says the Secretariat of the Board will contact and interface with all the employers specifically their Human Resources departments and the professional bodies as they trace the former beneficiaries towards the recovery of the loans.
According to the statement, failure by an employer to disclose the existence of the former students’ loans beneficiaries under their employment will attract a penalty fee of MWK1 million for each employee in line with the HESL&GB Act Section 30, subsection 1.
The board plans to estbalish strategic partnerships with government, particularly the Department of Human Resource Management and Development, private sector employers and professional bodies to assist in tracing the loan beneficiaries and recovery of the loans at source.
The professional bodies include the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Malawi (Icam), Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA), Malawi Institution of Engineers (MIE), Institute of People Management Malawi (IPMM) and the Bankers Association of Malawi (BAM).
Follow and Subscribe Nyasa TV :
recover cash gate money first!!!!!!!
Mphwiyo ndi anzake anaba ma billion, awo akungoziyenderawo…
Bwanji osamukwenya iyeyo kuti abwenze.
Ine as former university graduate sindingabwenze
Za ziiiii
chonde inu mukutolela the loan muchite masamu a present value of the money that was paid kalero. If you haven’t considered that yet paja muganiza mobwelela k25000 ya year 2000 cannot equal to yalero
MK 577 billion siinabwezedwe, Muli sanabweze yake ku bank ndiye ife tiphweke! Mukuona ngati ife ndife mabulutu akumamidzi eti!!! Mumuuze employer wanga vuto palibe koma first bring me all the contracts imene ndidasainila kuti ndizibweze komanso kabungwe kamene kankatininkha ngongoleyo kadatha! Yanga ndiyodyela mahule ndi bawa kwa Biwi.
I laughed the time I heard this and I laughed again when I heard it on the radio. You guys are morons and I detest every one of you at a subatomic level. The reason this country gets absolutely nowhere because of the subintelligence that is displayed over and over again especially in issues like this. When we got those loans, we knew we had to pay them back but most of us are not willing to pay back money to hypocrites and thieves. where will this money go and how will it be used? will those receiving the money… Read more »
Hahahaha anzanu a Kapala a ku Kasungu angomwa kachasu basi. Pano anatheratu. Anyway why did the University release the degrees to people with balances at the college? Foolishness at its best. Do not blame the ex-students.
You guys are not serious. Some of us have always been ready to repay the loan; after all its just 125,000 for all the 4 years; but its not even known kuti ndalamazo tikumupatsa ndani. Ofcourse, you have put forth the account details, but no one can just deposit money without knowing where the money is going to OR trusting the ones collecting it. You will have hard time collecting it. Cheers to virus (from Poly – mkazi iwe unkandiladitsa kwabasi) and Lucifer (the late – man munkatiopseza zedi); and others, like Ahead – kaya pano ali kuti kaya after… Read more »
Let us hope they are serious about this. I remember I still owe the University of Malawi MK360.00 which I have been willing to pay with interest – seriously. This is since 1994 – 95 school year when I was soing my final year at Chanco. I am looking forward to getting details on how we can do this since I am currently outside the country. Will possibly pass by Chanco and do it when I am up that side. In those days there was a loan facility that some people used to abuse – yours truly included (though for… Read more »
The discipline which, sadly, these guys do not have.
Set a thief to catch a thief, You establish committees of inquiry trust boards with people that are not capable. Search for information from the University of Malawi. offices. Admin offices which keep information for students. Find out who took the loans. Liaise with the department or the bank that disbursed the funds. Then take action. Or get a list of graduates from employers by checking their copied certificates compare with your list of loan defaulters but this list may not be complete because some are not employed.
This board like the previous ones lack seriousness. They say we should contact their secretariat to establish the status of our loans but when you contact them, they are not responding. Even the emails on their statement, one is not working and for the other one, it appears they do not check the mails.
K1.7bn yokha basi? Ndimayesatu ndi zambiri. Imeneyo ingoyitayani yachepa. Komabe Ine olo mutanditengera ku Khoti sindingapereke. The student loan forms I signed during my days in college were signed with a different Trust altogether. When that Trust closed its doors before recovering their loans, it means the loans have been written off. This new board has no mandate to ask me for a loan repayment. I did not sign any contract with the Chisonis of this world. Tiyeni nazoni