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A Pwani University student has received Ksh55,200 in upkeep funds from the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) following the intervention of the Commission on Administrative Justice.
In a statement on Wednesday, August 13, the Office of the Ombudsman said the student had complained to the Commission over a delay in the processing of her HELB student loan.
She told the Commission that she was a government-sponsored student at Pwani University and had applied for HELB funding in August 2025 to support her tuition and upkeep.
The Commission said HELB had processed the student's tuition funding but failed to process her upkeep allocation, prompting her to seek its intervention.
"While HELB processed her tuition funding, it did not process her upkeep allocation, prompting her to seek the intervention of the Commission," the statement read.
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Following the complaint, the Commission took up the matter with HELB through an inquiry dated May 11, 2026.
In its response dated June 26, 2026, HELB confirmed that the student was a bona fide government-sponsored student.
The Board, however, explained that the student's initial application had identified her as a self-sponsored student, resulting in the award of tuition funding only.
"However, at the time of submitting her application, she had indicated that she was a self-sponsored student and was consequently awarded tuition fees amounting to Ksh90,301.80 only," the statement added.
HELB subsequently advised the student to correct her details on the Higher Education Financing Student Portal so that her application accurately reflected her status as a government-sponsored student.
"The Board advised Ms. W.N.M. to update her details on the Higher Education Financing Student Portal to accurately reflect her status as a government-sponsored student, which she subsequently did," the statement further read.
After the student's details were updated, HELB disbursed an additional Ksh55,200 upkeep allocation to her, resolving the complaint that had been lodged with the Commission.
This comes over a month after a family from Mandera County received an outstanding wildlife compensation payment of Ksh770,000 after a four-year wait.
In a statement on Tuesday, June 23, the commission said the payment was processed by the State Department for Wildlife after investigations revealed that the compensation balance had been delayed and erroneously paid to the wrong individual.
According to the Office of the Ombudsman, the case originated from a complaint filed by a Mandera resident whose son suffered injuries after a snake bite in 2020.
According to H.M.H, a compensation claim was duly submitted to the then Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife through the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS).
The Ministerial Wildlife Compensation Management Committee (MCMC) approved compensation amounting to Ksh1.5 million.
However, the family only received Ksh730,000, leaving an outstanding balance of Ksh770,000.
The Office of the Ombudsman launched inquiries and first engaged the Director General of KWS.
After receiving no response, a reminder was issued; the Director General later informed the commission that compensation for wildlife-related losses is administered by the State Department for Wildlife, which processes and pays all Human-Wildlife Conflict claims.
The commission then wrote to the Principal Secretary in the State Department for Wildlife. The department acknowledged the inquiry and revealed discrepancies in its records.
According to the records received from KWS, the designated payee was listed as A.H.A. instead of H.M.H.
Following a review of correspondence between the State Department for Wildlife and KWS, authorities established that the payment had been mistakenly made to A.H.A., whose own compensation claim had already been fully settled during an earlier disbursement.
As a result, the Principal Secretary directed KWS to recover the funds from A.H.A. or take appropriate administrative action.
On June 5, 2026, the State Department for Wildlife confirmed that the outstanding compensation had finally been processed and paid to the rightful beneficiary.
"The purpose of this letter is to inform you that the Department has duly compensated Mr. H.M.H., the beneficiary of the claimant A.H.M. (minor), for injuries sustained as a result of a wildlife-related incident. The compensation has been processed and paid accordingly," the Principal Secretary said.
H.M.H later confirmed receiving the Ksh770,000 balance, bringing an end to a lengthy compensation dispute that had stretched for several years.
