Geoffrey Monari, the new Helb CEO. /HANDOUTGeoffrey Monari has been appointed the new chief executive officer of the Higher Education Loans Board - Helb.
The board's chairperson Ekwee Ethuro said in a statement on Thursday that the appointment will take effect from March 13, 2025.
Monari takes over from interim CEO Mary Wachira Muchie who has been in office since the exit of Charles Ringera who left at the end of his tenure.
Ringera had been at the helm of Helb since March, 2013.
The application deadline for his replacement was December 17, 2024.
The job advertisement said the new CEO will oversee institutional restructuring, fintech optimisation, customer-focused leadership, human capital initiatives, and corporate governance.
"The Board is confident that Monari’s vast experience, leadership acumen and deep understanding of the higher education financing landscape will provide the vision and leadership necessary to propel Helb to new heights," Ethuro said.
He said the board further believes that Monari will ensure the loans board continues to serve its stakeholders with excellence and integrity.
Monari boasts of over 15 years in senior management experience across the higher education financing sector.
He will be assuming the new responsibility at a time university and college students have been grumbling about delayed disbursement of loans.
Speaking in Dagoreti South on Wednesday, President William Ruto acknowledged existence of challenges at the board but assured that this was being addressed.
He said he had already tasked the Head of Public Service to ensure the challenges are expeditiously addressed, and jokingly told the students to reach him by phone if money will not have hit their accounts by Friday.
Until his appointment, Monari has been serving as the founding CEO of the Universities Fund since 2020.
Prior to joining the Universities Fund, he served as the Chief Operations Officer [COO] at Helb from 2016 – 2020 during which time he oversaw the strategic delivery of vital transformative initiatives, from student lending, strengthening debt management fund and supporting Helb partnerships, resource mobilisation and key stakeholder consultations.
Monari holds a Master of Business Administration degree, and a Bachelor of Commerce Degree.
He also holds the Senior Management Leadership Programme certificate and is currently pursuing the Global CEO Africa Programme at Strathmore Business School.
