The government has urged members of the public to collect the Inua Jamii cash transfer programme funds disbursed for the months of July and August.
This comes at a time when the government has officially launched the registration of 500,000 new beneficiaries for the programme.
Speaking during a media brief in Nairobi, state department for Social Protection and Senior Citizen Affairs PS Joseph Motari said the ministry noted that out of the 1,042,864 beneficiaries who are already in the programme, a huge lot is yet to collect the August funding from banks and a few are yet to collect July's disbursement.
The Inua Jamii cash transfer programme is a government funded initiative designed to provide monthly stipends of Sh2000 to vulnerable citizens.
These include orphans and vulnerable children, older persons, and households caring for individuals with severe disabilities.
As of July 2023, the programme had 1,042,864 beneficiaries out of the expected 1,233,129 beneficiaries.
During the Kenya social protection conference in April 2023, President William Ruto committed to increasing the number of programme beneficiaries to 2.5 million in the next three years.
Subsequently, on August 8, 2023, the cabinet approved the registration of 500,000 new beneficiaries in the 2023-2024 financial year.
The state department also planned a targeted registration exercise to replace exited beneficiaries.
PS Motari said the fresh enlisting of new beneficiaries started well across the country on Friday, September 1, 2023.
“Within the spot checks that we have made, I'm satisfied to report that the turnout is okay,” Motari said.
“We have also seen a huge crowd that we had not anticipated. The exercise will go on for a month but we want to urge Kenyans to avoid long queues and crowding.”
PS Motari said registration for new beneficiaries will take place at subcounty social development and subcounty children services offices.
The exercise will also be taking place at venues designated by subcounty officials in consultation with national government administration officers.
“We have our officers whom we have trained to reach the village level so that no one misses out,” he said.
“I would like to encourage all stakeholders all the way to the wazee wa mtaa to continue spearheading for this initiative.”
Motari also said the government is now working to ensure the money is not only accessed through designated banks but also through Mpesa.
“We don’t want anyone to travel more than six kilometres to collect these funds hence we are onboarding the Mpesa Mtaani agents,” he said.
“We are starting off with 14 days and then we see how it will turn out. We want to encourage people to register as our target is 500,000 Kenyans. Thereafter, we will validate the data and assess those who really need the money and are qualified to be given priority.”
During registration, eligible individuals and caregivers must present valid original ID cards and copies of necessary documents for their respective programmes.
For the elderly, assistance will be extended to Kenyan citizens aged 70 years and above who do not receive pension.
Motari said the money will be disbursed before public servants receive their salaries every month.
“We will not favour any region and we will disburse the funds equally,” he added.
He revealed that the money spent on cash transfers per month is Sh2 billion and Sh26 billion annually.
With the new registration, the PS added, the number is expected to go up to more than Sh30 billion per year.
“The funds as of now are fully dependent on the exchequer. We are coming up with a social assistance funds bill that will be used to lessen the dependence on the exchequer money,” Motari said.
“We want to look for other ways to raise money for the vulnerable as this goes together with our Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda.”