Beneficiaries of Inua Jamii programme have started receiving payments after the government released Sh 4,366,644,000 payment for those enrolled in the cash transfer programmes.
The payment for the July – August 2020 payment will be paid out to 1,091,166 cash transfer beneficiaries who successfully opened bank accounts for the three programmes under the Consolidated Cash Transfer Programme (CCTP) and where successfully submitted to the Consolidated Cash Transfer Management Information System (CCTP MIS).
In a press release today by the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection a total of 293,665 beneficiaries who enrolled in the Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC) cash transfer programme will receive Sh. 1,174,728,000.
Under the Older Persons cash transfer programme, a total of 763,553 beneficiaries enlisted will be paid Sh 3,056,096,000 while a total of 33,948 beneficiaries enrolled under the Persons with Severe Disability cash transfer programme will receive Sh 135,820,000.
“Each of the beneficiaries will receive Sh 4,000 to cover the July-August 2020 payment cycle and the beneficiaries or caregivers can access the payment at any time over the next six (6) months,” the statement said.
A beneficiary will also be allowed to withdraw all or a part of this amount at any time during the six-month period as they receive their payments through the contracted Payment Service Providers that is Co-operative Bank Ltd, Equity Bank Kenya Ltd, KCB Bank Kenya Ltd, and Kenya Post Office Savings Bank Ltd.
They can collect money either from the nearest authorised bank agent of the bank where they opened their accounts, over the counters of the nearest bank, the nearest ATM of their bank using the Inua Jamii Payment card or Cash-On-Transit as shall be arranged between the officers and the Branch Managers in the field.
Beneficiaries or caregivers will also be required to produce their Inua Jamii payment cards and Identity card to receive the payments and those going for payment for the first time must transact biometrically.
Due to the delayed payment of the July-August cycle, the government has said that after this payment, planned to effect the payment of two cycles (a double payment) thereafter.
The government requires that the four payment service providers deliver cash to the beneficiaries in a timely manner and in the correct amount.
“Let them assure that 80 percent of beneficiaries access funds within 6km radius in Zone A which is urban areas and Zone B which is rural areas and within 20 km in Zone C which is remote area,” the statement says adding that the banks must capture biometric data and deliver payment cards to the beneficiaries.
The Ministry has further asked the banks to report any cases of forgeries, fraud and theft which shall come to their knowledge immediately and also ensure that beneficiaries know which agents are on their location by providing a list of Agents in their counties to the County coordinators children and social development.
Other programmes being implemented to cushion vulnerable households especially during the COVID -19 pandemic are by the development partners.
The World Food Programme is implementing a 3 months’ Cash Transfer program to complement the Government’s effort to cushion the vulnerable in the informal settlements of Nairobi.
The Programme was initially costed at 1 billion and the target beneficiaries are those households with Persons living with HIV, those suffering from Tuberculosis and households with children who are malnourished, each household receiving Sh 4,000 once a month.
To date the program has targeted a total of 70,500 households in the informal settlements of Nairobi and plans to target an additional 24,000 households in the informal settlements of Mombasa who had lost their sources of livelihoods or have had their incomes slashed because of the pandemic.
The WFP is also partnering with the Ministry of Health, and Mombasa County Government to support treatment for malnutrition among 6,000 children and women in the city and will distribute a nutritious peanut-based paste for children and fortified flour for malnourished mothers.
The United Kingdom (UK) Government Digital Cash Transfer Program through GiveDirectly is implementing a £5million direct cash assistance programme, to support Kenyans living in urban slums whose livelihoods have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19 and public health restrictions.
The programme is also expected to reach 52,700 Beneficiaries in 14 urban informal settlements in Nairobi and selected settlements in Mombasa.
The programme which started last month in October 2020 has to date reached 19,000 Beneficiaries; each receiving Sh 4,000 monthly for 3 months and aims to reach all recipients by December 2020.
The European Union (EU) has financed Covid-19 Enhanced Preparedness and Action: Social Safety Nets for Vulnerable Households Living in Informal Settlements in Nairobi, Kenya.
In partnership with Kenya Red Cross, Oxfam, Concern World Wide, ACTED, Wangu Kanja and CREAW EU launched a cash transfer of Sh 500 million to support vulnerable households in the informal settlement areas in Nairobi, through cash transfers for 3 months.
Since the launch, the EU has enabled direct cash transfer to 17,400 households in 10 Nairobi Informal settlements, 15,877 being households targeted by the partners while 1,563 households were beneficiaries of the Inua Jamii Programme. Each Household received Sh7, 668 and Sh5,668 respectively.
The cash transfer for all the vulnerable under the development partners cash transfer programmes is being delivered through mobile money transfer.
By Wangari Ndirangu