Yatani urges successor to improve cash disbursement to the poor

Treasury Cabinet Secretary Ukur Yatani has asked his successor at the Labour ministry to prioritise reforms on the State's cash transfer "in order to improve the welfare of the vulnerable people in society."

Mr Yatani, who has headed Labour ministry since February 2018, wants the incoming Cabinet Secretary Simon Chelugui to dedicate energy to the programme, which he said has a potential to hold five million beneficiaries. At the moment, up to 1.2 million citizens benefit from the State's cash transfer project.

The cash transfer scheme, was launched in 2018 to support the elderly, orphans and vulnerable children as well as people living with disability, with the hope of lifting them out of penury.

The scheme has, however, faced delays in disbursements and irregularities, that led the ministry to introduce the Consolidated Cash Transfer Programme to enable the beneficiaries receive the monies from their bank accounts.

“We are confident the reforms we have taken over the time will realise the much needed output. But we are not there yet due to challenges in resources. We expect you to continue with the same. So far, we have seen some beneficiaries’ graduate form the programme by using the savings and engaging in income-related activities,” he said.

“The funds should be able to reach to the beneficiaries in time and in their convenience.”

The programme has a budgetary allocation of Sh26 billion, which Mr Yatani said should be increased to Sh30 billion. However, the expansion of the project has been constrained due to resources and the current austerity measures.