The beneficiaries of the Inua Jamii Cash Transfer programme in Murang’a County have started receiving their monthly stipend through mobile money services.
The County Director for Social Services, Ms. Lucy Gakere, has confirmed that all the 73,774 beneficiaries of the programme received their stipend for the month of November through Mpesa services.
This, she noted, was realised after a successful piloting of the payment of the Inua Jamii stipend through mobile phone services, which was done in the counties of Murang’a and Marsabit from November last year.
“During payments for the month of November, a beneficiary was just required to visit an Mpesa agent and produce his or her personal details, and the agent could withdraw the cash from the E-Citizen platform and hand it over to the beneficiary,” Ms. Gakere told KNA on Tuesday.
She continued, “The first week of the implementation faced some technical challenges, which were solved, and in the third and fourth weeks, the payments were done smoothly.”
The director further stated the government has moved on to improve service, whereby in the payments for December stipends, which have kicked off this week, a beneficiary is required to have a registered SIM card and a password.
“Now the beneficiaries are supposed to have a registered SIM card and a password so as to access the money. This new method is dubbed Sure-Pay. Payments for December stipends have kicked off, and the beneficiaries are receiving their payments without hitches,” the director explained.
The new mode of payment, Ms. Gakere noted, has saved beneficiaries from travelling long distances to access their money in banks.
Six banks were contracted by the government to pay Inua Jamii stipends, but this posed a challenge to the elderly and those with severe disabilities.
“With full and successful piloting of the new method of payment, the beneficiaries will only be required to access their money at their nearest mobile money agent. After the piloting in the two counties, we expect the process to be implemented in other counties,” she observed.
In Murang’a County, 63,148 beneficiaries are listed under the Older Persons Cash Transfer, 9,182 under the cash transfer for orphans and vulnerable children, and another 1,444 under the persons with severe disabilities.
By Bernard Munyao
