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| Dennis Itumbi with President William Ruto |
Dennis Itumbi, the newly appointed head of Creative Economy and Special Projects in the President’s Executive Office, has faced online backlash from Kenyans. Dennis Itumbi took to social media to share what he described as evidence that President William Ruto had cleared his HELB loan. This occurred after he released what he claimed was evidence that President William Ruto had repaid his HELB loan. What did Ruto say about his HELB loan? Itumbi’s evidence came just days after the president recounted his personal education experience, stating that he funded his university education with a KSh 55,000 loan. During his speech at a town hall meeting at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC) on Sunday, August 25, Ruto mentioned that after becoming a member of Parliament, he used his first salary to repay the loan. He highlighted that his repayment included a 2% interest, bringing the total amount to KSh 69,000. “I went to university in 1987 as a fresher, and I had a loan just like you do. My loan was KSh 55,000 with an interest of 2%. The statistics are there with HELB. I paid my loan of KSh 69,000 with my first salary job as a member of Parliament,” the president revealed. What did Itumbi say about Ruto’s loan? Itumbi took to his X account to present what he described as evidence that the head of state had indeed cleared his loan. He shared a photo of a loan statement bearing HELB’s logo as his evidence, captioning it with a message urging media houses to focus on reporting the truth. How did Kenyans react? Kenyans online quickly reacted to Itumbi’s tweet, with some expressing doubt about the evidence he presented. Kanairaw: “He graduated in 1990 and started paying in 2001. That’s 10 years without payment.” Nairobi express: “This statement is generated using ChatGPT.” Leviticus: “We went to school. You’ve made this now.” Ric: “I can make this in seconds.” Mbula Mutula: “For how long have you cooked these figures.” El Captain: “He said he started paying when he got his first Mp job. 1997..unless one of you is lying.” Kalonzo threatens protests against university funding model This comes amid a backlash against the new university funding model, with Kalonzo Musyoka threatening to lead protests against it. Kalonzo criticised the new funding model, terming it a corrupt higher education model that Kenyans should reject. He claimed the controversial model was rolled out without proper stakeholder engagement.
by Faith Chandianya