Beneficiaries of various government cash transfers will start receiving their monthly stipend through mobile phones within a period of six months.
The principal secretary for Social Protection and Senior Citizen Affairs, Mr. Joseph Motari, has said the move will relieve those registered with Inua Jamii, orphans, vulnerable children, and persons with disabilities from the challenges of visiting financial institutions to access their money.
Speaking when he visited and inspected the ongoing registration of the elderly in the programme in various parts of Murang’a, on Monday, Motari said the government is working on structures to ensure that within a period of six months the beneficiaries will start accessing their money through mobile phone services.
Currently, he noted that the elderly are forced to travel to places to access their stipend from registered financial institutions, observing that the movement is a big challenge, especially for the elderly and persons with disabilities.
“Once this ongoing exercise comes to an end, after a period of about six months, the beneficiaries will be getting their stipend through their mobile phones. This will be a great relief, especially to our sick and physically challenged elderly people,” stated the PS.
Motari assured Kenyans that the ongoing exercise is transparent, saying only those that meet the set requirements will be enlisted for the programme.
“In the registration exercise, we are targeting to recruit all persons aged 70 years and above who are not receiving pensions. In total, we want to increase the number of beneficiaries already in the programme by about 500,000.
“The exercise is free, and we ask the elected leaders to ensure registration in their respective areas is done fairly and transparently,” explained Motari.
Lauding the national government administrators for their support in the exercise, the PS said more workers will be recruited to ensure the registration exercise is taken to the village level.
“The registration will from this week be taken to villages so as to get the aged at their home areas and spare them from travelling to far distances as they seek to be enlisted,” he remarked.
The National Director of the Inua Jamii programme, Moses Muriithi, who was accompanying the PS, said the August stipend has already been released and the beneficiaries can access the money in their banks.
Muriithi lauded the cash transfer programme, saying it’s aimed to uplift the livelihoods of the less privileged and vulnerable in society.
“During the registration, the elderly persons are supposed to be accompanied by their trusted caregivers. This is to ensure that in the future, the caregivers will be helping them access their money,” added Muriithi.
From September 1 up to September 4, in Murang’a County, 3,230 older persons, 605 orphans and vulnerable children, and 339 persons with disabilities had been registered.
The County Director of Social Services, Ms. Lucy Gakera, said the county has more than 98, 000 slots for replacement after they exited through natural attrition.
“We will replace more than 98, 000 people who have passed on as we also embark on registering new members who have attained the age of 70 and above,” noted Gakera.
By Bernard Munyao
