Social Protection PS Joseph Motari during discussions on new Inua Jamii payment system on January 8, 2025/HANDOUTThe government is on course to implement a new payment system for the Inua Jamii Cash Transfer Programme.
Principal Secretary for Social Protection and Senior Citizen Affairs Joseph Motari on Wednesday chaired a meeting to discuss the implementation of the new system.
The system uses M-PESA through the e-Citizen platform, offering a streamlined and more efficient payment solution,” the ministry of Labour and Social Protection said.
It noted that the pilot phase is currently underway in Murang’a and Marsabit counties.
The meeting brought together key stakeholders, including Isaac Ochieng, Director General of e-Citizen, representatives from Safaricom, and officers from the department.
The new payment aimed to improve the delivery of government services, making it easier and more efficient for beneficiaries to access their funds.
The department expects that once the new payment system is fully implemented, it will help reduce delays and improve the beneficiaries' overall experience
The Inua Jamii Programme offers financial assistance through monthly stipends to the most vulnerable members of society: the elderly, orphans and vulnerable children, and Persons with Severe Disabilities, with the aim of improving their lives.
The push for digitising government services aligns with broader national efforts to modernise payment systems and ensure more secure and timely transfers to those in need.
This shift comes as the government restructures the Inua Jamii programme to remove deceased beneficiaries whose caregivers continue to collect the stipends without reporting their deaths.
Many beneficiaries, including the elderly who struggle to visit banks, have been waiting over a year for this mobile payment option.
As of August 2024, the programme had a total of 1,215,343 beneficiaries of the Older Persons Cash Transfer Programme, 428,421 beneficiaries of the Orphans and Vulnerable Children Cash Transfer Programme, and 59,637 beneficiaries of the Persons with Severe Disabilities Cash Transfer Programme.
The government is keen to enroll more eligible Kenyans in the programme following President William Ruto’s directive to expand it to 2.5 million beneficiaries in phases.
