Kakamega MPs are divided on the threat to use police to recover about Sh7 billion arrears from beneficiaries of the Higher Education Loans Board.
Education CS Amina Mohamed last week said they will ask police to arrest defaulters.
Ikolomani MP Bernard Shinali supported the move but Malulu Injendi (Malava) and Lugari's Ayub Savula said it misguided and amounted to harassment.
Injendi said it was wrong for the government to put interest of the loan and then threaten to unleash police on the beneficiaries.
“The minister should consult widely to understand what is happening in the country before implementing the directive. Otherwise she will fail,” Injendi said.
He said most graduates were in jobs with meagre payments that cannot even sustain their families.
“The other day, a graduate in my constituency applied to be an assistant chief because of the frustrations they go through. He was disqualified for being over-qualified,” he said.
Injendi said the government should come up with a new way to recover the loan. He said using police would be scary.
“Why do we want police everywhere? Examinations were militarised and now Helb recovery,” he said.
Savula said the directive was misguided and meant to harass innocent graduates who are unable to secure employment because of failures of successive regimes.
“The government cannot shift blame for its failure to create employment for its citizens to graduates struggling to make ends,” Savula said.
“On this one, I will not support the government because there are graduates in my constituency who are boda boda riders because there are no jobs."
Shinali however said the idea of the loan was a revolving fund that should help others. As such, failure to pay back means the graduates were blocking others from benefiting.
“Let us create a responsible community. It’s wrong for one to borrow money and deliberately refuse to repay. We want a country where everyone meets his or her debt obligations,” Shinali said.
Amina on Saturday asked leaders not to politicise the move.
She said the government was unable to raise money for TIVET loans because of defaulting past beneficiaries.
The government has announced it will give bursaries of Sh30,000 to every TIVET student. The students also qualify for a Helb loan of Sh40,000.
“We are not going to ask those who are unemployed to pay but those working must repay their loans. I'm aware of some who have been working for the last 15 years but are not repaying. They are the ones we’re going for,” Amina said.