Nyamira County has disbursed Sh.138, 992,000 to vulnerable groups of persons through the national government’s cash transfer programme.
The Country Social Development Department Coordinator, Charles Onyancha while monitoring the payment exercise on Tuesday, said that almost all the beneficiaries registered under the scheme have received their cash for four months since January this year.
“We are disbursing Sh.8,000 to 17,374 beneficiaries in the entire county, comprising of three clusters of vulnerable groups including Orphans and Vulnerable children (OVC), Persons with Severe Disability (PWSD) and Older Persons (OP) to cover the first four months of this year,” said Onyancha.
At the same time, we are collaborating with the Ministry of Health to ensure that these vulnerable groups and the paying financial institutions adhere to all the regulations issued by the Ministry of Health to prevent contracting or spread of Covid-19,” he said.
The coordinator said they were doing close monitoring to ensure that the beneficiaries, their care givers and those serving as bank tellers and agents maintained the required one meter social distancing, while ensuring the highest hygienic standards by regular washing of hands with soap and running water.
“These beneficiaries, fall under the high risk group of persons in our community who are likely to be drastically affected in case they contract the dreaded Covid-19 as their immunity is low, since most of them are already suffering from other ailments, don’t have access to sustainable balanced diet due to economic constraints, hence the reason why we must safeguard them against all avenues which may expose them to the disease,” he stated.
He further advised the beneficiaries to use the money wisely because it will take some time before they receive the subsequent cycles, due to the government’s current financial burden in fighting the global pandemic.
“Keep safe, strive to eat a healthy and balanced diet, maintain social distance, wash your hands regularly with clean water and soap, wear a face mask when in public places and most importantly stay at home,” advised the coordinator.
By Deborah Bochere
