Kibabii University students on Monday went on a rampage demanding that the Treasury releases the Higher Education Loans Board cash.
The students chanted traditional Bukusu songs holding placards aloft and barricaded the Bungoma-Chwele highway.
The protest disrupted transport and businesses the whole day.
The learners at the institution in Kanduyi, Bungoma, said delaying the cash had made life “unbearable”.
Police used teargas to disperse them.
Kibabii University students president William Chiveli asked the Treasury to release the money within 24 hours.
He said the money has been delayed for two months and warned that they will take unspecified action if the Treasury did not release the money to their accounts.
Chiveli said landlords have kicked out students from rented hostels.
“Majority of my members can’t afford to pay rent, buy food and the general upkeep. They depend on the Helb money, which has not been released for more than two months,” he said.
Chiveli pleaded with President Uhuru Kenyatta to help them to access the cash. The students, he lamented, no longer concentrated in studies because of hunger and were spending the nights in the cold.
“We have piled debts at mama mbogas and small shops and they no longer give us anything on credit,” Chiveli said.
The student leader said the issue had not only affected Kibabii, but other public universities as well.
“We are almost closing this semester, yet we have not received any money or communication on the delay. We are suffering,” Chiveli said.
Efforts to get a comment from university vice-chancellor Isaac Ipara were unsuccessful.
past demo
Last year in January, University of Nairobi students went on a rampage to protest the delay of Helb cash. They lit bonfires on some city roads, inconveniencing motorists.
The students complained they were suffering in their hostels while others were still stuck at home with unpaid fees arrears.
The students said the money was supposed to be deposited in their accounts the previous year or early January last year.