Economy

566,000 seek State stipend for the elderly

old

More than 310,000 have been benefitting from the same programme which covered needy and vulnerable people aged above 65. File photo | nmg

A total of 566,000 people applied to be included in the government cash transfer programme for those aged 70 and above, Social Protection principal secretary Susan Mochache has said.

Successful applicants are set to start receiving a Sh2,000 monthly stipend beginning March.

The final figure of beneficiaries will, however, be released after a government audit of the applicants to ensure only the eligible, needy and most vulnerable receive the cash transfers.

“Each beneficiary receives Sh2,000 a month, adding to Sh4,000 per payment cycle since the Ministry of Labour releases the funds every two months,” she said.

READ: Senior citizens set to get Sh4,000 stipend in March

ALSO READ: Sh6.5bn set aside for those above 70 years

Poor and vulnerable

The government currently runs three cash transfer programmes to poor and vulnerable groups.

They include orphans and vulnerable children and people living with severe disabilities.

More than 310,000 have been benefitting from the same programme which covered needy and vulnerable people aged above 65.

The government expects to spend approximately Sh2 billion in the January – February payment cycle. This implies the total annual cost will be about Sh12 billion.

The cash transfer programme was a key campaign promise by the Jubilee administration last year and was intended to convince senior citizens to back the party’s presidential candidate Uhuru Kenyatta.

The President also promised free National Hospital Insurance Fund cover for the elderly.

“The cash transfer programmes seek to cover the very poor and extremely vulnerable people in the country to cushion them form sinking further into poverty,” Ms Mochache said.

Beneficiaries will choose their preferred means of receiving the disbursements.

Applicants will go through community vetting before the first payment cycle in March 2018 to ensure only the extremely needy and poor senior citizens receive the stipend.

HelpAge International population expert Erastus Maina, whose organisation deals with older people, warned that massive resources were still needed to ensure the senior citizens live a decent life.

“We need to do more as the Sh2,000 monthly stipend provided is a drop in the ocean,” he said.

Not entrenched in law

Mr Maina called on the Government to come up with a legal framework to guide the cash transfer programme to ensure it is entrenched in the country’s laws.

“We are happy at the progress of the programme but we do not want it to be owned by any one regime,” he said.

Mr Maina called on the government to provide health insurance to all the beneficiaries as only 42,000 of the older people were currently covered.

According to the State Department of Social Protection, a total of Sh7.3 billion was spent as stipend on the older people in all counties last financial year alone.

The money was spent on 310,000 beneficiaries.

In total, the government has spent Sh25.7 billion on the programme since it was introduced in 2008, initially with only 200 beneficiaries.

About Sh24 billion has been spent on the programme over the past four years.