Nana Kwaku Agyei Yeboah, the Chief Executive Officer of the Students Loan Trust Fund (SLTF), has disclosed that those who have fallen behind on the repayment of their debts will be subject to legal action beginning in September.
According to Mr. Yeboah, those individuals who profited from the loan but have not yet repaid it will be among those who will be subject to legal action.
He went on to say that those recipients who are gainfully employed but have not paid off the debt after ten years will also be subject to prosecution. This information was provided by the CEO during an interview that took place on Monday, August 1 with Daily Graphic.
He stated that the Trust Fund is at a point where it is forced to resort to legal procedures against these individuals because numerous efforts to remind them have been ignored. Mr. Yeboah explained that this activity is in line with the Trust Fund’s effort to meet its recovery target of 70 million for this year. The target was set for the current year.
“We consistently keep reminding people through their guarantors, text messages, and other communication – emails, etc, as well as publish names and faces on our platforms and in the dailies. They have simply ignored all those and so we are resorting to the final action by sending the recalcitrant borrowers to court and prosecuting them to get the money back. Prosecution of students loan defaulters
“This month is the final grace period, if they still refuse to do the needful from all the reminders and prompts, September is prosecution time to recover the loans,” he emphasized.
The Students Loan Trust Fund Act 820 (2011) detailed several actions that the Students Loan Trust Fund should pursue to recoup the money owed to them.
These steps include sending reminders to defaulting borrowers via email, text messaging, and also through their guarantors. Additionally, pictures and details of defaulting borrowers will be published in national media outlets.
Regarding this matter, Mr. Yeboah stated that since going to court is one of the measures, the Trust Fund, by its Act, will “begin prosecution of defaulters” to ensure that the scheme is maintained. This is to ensure that the scheme is sustainable. Prosecution of students loan defaulters
He stated that those individuals will be the focus of the prosecution’s investigation who have not demonstrated any effort to return their debt.
According to the statement made by the chief executive officer, the Students Loan Trust Fund has designated the month of August as a time to educate people about the significance of making timely loan payments.
“The Student Loan Trust Fund sets aside one month in each year to educate the general public, particularly, beneficiaries of the loan scheme on the importance of loan repayment to the sustainability of the fund.
“The month is also used to disseminate information on the various repayment platforms available to borrowers. This year, the Recovery Month has been slated for August,” Mr. Yeboah said. Prosecution of students loan defaulters
