• The programme which is scheduled to take one year, is aimed at supporting the less fortunate to have a source of livelihood even after the end of the programme.
• PS Motari said the beneficiaries have been allocated mentors who will train and guide them on viable businesses ideas.
Image: KNA
Some 15, 000 extremely vulnerable households drawn from arid and semi-arid areas within 25 counties are listed to benefit from funds to establish income-generating projects.
The families are slated to get Sh30,000 each in a programme dubbed Economic Inclusion funded by the World Bank and the government.
Principal Secretary for Social Protection and Senior Citizens’ Affairs Joseph Motari said the listed households will start receiving the transfer seed capital from next month.
In the programme, each family is also expected to receive Sh2,000 monthly stipends to help in purchasing food, among other basic commodities.
Motari said the programme scheduled to take one year is aimed at supporting the less fortunate to have a source of livelihood even after the end of the programme.
“The pilot programme was done in five counties in 2020, and now we are implementing a second phase, which will bring in 25 counties. This programme aims to graduate the poor from extreme poverty to a level of earning income in small projects,” Motari said.
“It’s our wish to roll out the programme in all counties, but we have started with people from arid and semi-arid areas.”
He was speaking on Wednesday when he visited the beneficiaries in several parts of Murang’a.
Motari said the beneficiaries have been allocated mentors who will train and guide them on viable business ideas.
“Families that were included in the pilot phase are doing well. The majority established small businesses that are currently growing to medium investments, and that’s the goal of this programme of graduating the poor to a better economic level,” he said.
Some 1,500 beneficiaries drawn from two subcounties in Murang'a; Maragua and Murang’a East, are included in the programme.
Motari said the funds for seed capital will be given in two tranches, where initially each household will receive Sh20,000 and later Sh10, 000.
“The beneficiaries will be monitored and guided to ensure the seed capital funds are prudently utilised. Our target is to see the families are left in a better financial position,” he said.
The PS said the families were selected from an enhanced single register that was done in 2022, which has ranked the households in terms of their vulnerability.
“Community leaders and national government administrators have also helped in ensuring we have the most deserving families in the programme,” he said.
Motari called upon the families to prudently utilise the funds and establish sustainable projects that will be a lasting solution to their vulnerability status.
He said all beneficiaries of cash transfers will start receiving their monthly stipend through mobile money services by the closure of this year.
Motari said orphans and vulnerable children and those with disabilities are already receiving their stipend through their mobile phones.
“Beneficiaries of Inua Jamii are yet to be included in mobile phone money services but we are working out to ensure all the 1.7 million beneficiaries start getting their monthly stipend through their phones come December this year,” he said.
Murang’a County Commissioner Joshua Nkanatha said the families listed in the programme from the county were thoroughly vetted to ensure they are the most deserving.
Nkanatha said the small businesses established by beneficiaries of cohort 1 are doing well, assuring them of the security of their enterprises.
“This programme has highly assisted poor families who were factored in cohort 1 and we hope those being included in the second cohort will invest wisely with the funds they are given,” he said.
One of the beneficiaries of cohort 1, Mary Nduta appreciated the programme saying when she was given a seed capital of Sh30, 000, she started the business of selling water.
Nduta from the Kabuta area in Murang’a East Subcounty said she approached a local water firm that set up for her a water kiosk where she currently makes her livelihood.
“The money I was given back in 2021 enabled me to open a water kiosk and currently I sell water to residents. I am a widow and the enterprise helps me cater for my family expenses. Initially, I used to search for menial work from people’s farms to get some money for food,” Nduta said.