When I was a little child, my grandma used to tell me this, “Grandson, learn how to sweep the floor and know how professionals hold the yardstick mop when cleaning the big mansions, because when you are handling something that doesn’t belongs to you, you must play to the tune of your boss or rather please them, but be careful, when you have something that is rightfully yours, stand firm and protect it, when it’s a loan, don’t beg because you’ll pay it in sweat, pain and fully stressed, like it or not, you have to work hard.”
Mr. Ringera is getting students of this republic wrong. HELB is a loan, we have to pay it back, no bank restricts you on how to use your loan and all they care about is, will you pay it back?
Our universities don’t refund students liquid cash unless after graduation which in the same measure, involves a lot of processes that see comrades give up on such monies.
Our life doesn’t revolve around school fee and accommodation alone, there are students who finish school fee through bursaries, well-wishers and so on….we invest, start small scale businesses because the government no longer guarantee us of jobs after graduation, come on, we need to wear clothes, shave our hair, our ladies need to go to the saloon, who will pay for them? Or you want them to park in various joints and rape them for small handouts?
Life is not an imagination; it’s a reality that we showcase in each and every day of our lives. Without food, none can survive 3 months away from parents and to orphans, 3 months is like a year in the jungle.
Communications is key for students, without credit, how will you do this? Lecturers nowadays give assignment through email, you need to download this work, type it, print and present, unless there is a university out there that offers students with this services for free, then Ringera is right with his business idea, but in case of our universities, his business plan of selfish gain is not healthy to our suffering comrades.
Accommodation, is a major nightmare to our universities, even my own university, Kenyatta University which has shown the might and power of modern buildings across East, Central and West Africa can’t accommodate all students in their premises, how do we expect students to survive when the little peanut given by HELB is restricted in some card and specific retail shops?
It’s absurd, quite uncouth and from where I sit, I feel how inhumane Mr. Ringera could be, his children are breathing the fresh air and living in well vanished houses in world class universities outside Kenya and the sons and daughters of this nation are being subjected to frustration, mental torture and poor living environs.
If you can’t channel HELB to students’ personal bank accounts, with all due respect, disband HELB and never give any student because it’s of no help to us, you can tell us straight in the eye, survive.
Plastic money is a big NO, today and in future.
Kind Regards,
Vincent Opar.
Kenyatta University.
