Introduction

The Higher Education Students’ Loans and Grants Board (HESLGB) was established by an Act of Parliament in 2015 with a twofold mandate to annually disburse loans to needy and deserving students pursuing higher education in private and public universities/colleges in Malawi and to recover loans from former beneficiaries of student loan schemes.

Since its inception, the Board has engaged in various initiatives aimed at recovering loans from former beneficiaries. The initiatives have seen a number of former beneficiaries paying back their loans directly or through their employers.

Although the initiatives have registered positive feedback, there are some former beneficiaries who are still showing resistance towards paying back the loans. Resistance largely founded on the misconception that the loans were government grants that are not supposed to be repaid. Another section of those not willing to pay back the loans argue that the time for repaying the loans elapsed and they further site the statute of limitations as a basis for not repaying the loans.

Statute of Limitations

The concept of statute of limitations originates from the English law. It is a law that sets a maximum period allowed for a party to initiate legal proceedings to enforce their rights or to seek redress after a damage or injury. The objective of the statute of limitations is to ensure diligent prosecution of offences while evidence is available and fresh. It also seeks to ensure that people are not blindsided by civil lawsuits many years after some issue or incident occurred.

When it comes to issues to deal with debt/loans the statute of limitations sets the limited period of time for creditors or debt collectors to have a lawsuit to recover debt/loans. The Malawi Limitations Act of 1967 sets six years as a maximum time period. This means that after six years a creditor cannot sue a person for a debt/loan. However this does not necessarily mean the loan is wiped away, the creditor is only barred from initiating legal proceedings and an individual still has the moral obligation to repay the loan.

Statute of limitations versus HESLGB Act

The framers of the HESLGB Act foresaw the possibility of some beneficiaries using the statute of limitations as a basis for non-repayment of the student loans. In their wisdom they included, in the HESLGB Act, a clause that makes provisions of the HESLGB Act to supersede and prevail over the Limitations Act. In other words, Section 4(k) of the Act empowers HESLGB to not to be limited by the Limitations Act in its efforts to recover loans that were granted to students under the students’ loan schemes which were introduced in 1985/86 academic year.

Call to Action

One thing that all former loan beneficiaries should bear in mind is that section 28 of the HESLGB Act stipulates that non-repayment of students’ loan is an offence. The section explicitly states that “a loan beneficiary who without good cause fails to repay his/her loan is liable to civil proceedings”. It should also be noted that the longer the time of non-repayment, the more interest the loan accrues. HESLGB therefore calls upon all former student loan beneficiaries to take their time to understand the HESLGB Act and adhere to all their relevant repayment obligations therein. Pay back your student loan now and contribute towards the Malawi Government’s efforts of ensuring equitable, inclusive and accessible higher education for all in Malawi! (Visit Page to download the Act)