Ministry of Labour officials said disbursement details of the stipend, considered a non-contributory social pension for the elderly, were yet to be finalized, making it difficult to tell whether the pensioners will be on board.
They said registration for the enhanced OPCT is voluntary and any senior citizen with reliable income such as pension may choose to opt out.
So far, 523,129 senior citizens over 70 years have been registered to receive the March stipend, following a countrywide drive from June to August last year.
The ministry is expected to communicate the final list of senior citizens who will benefit from the programme.
Senior citizens aged above 70 years on State pension must wait longer to know whether they qualify to benefit from the government-sponsored bi-monthly stipend of Sh4,000, senior government officials said.
Ministry of Labour officials said disbursement details of the stipend, considered a non-contributory social pension for the elderly, were yet to be finalized, making it difficult to tell whether the pensioners will be on board.
“Whether the senior citizens already on State pension qualify for the bi-monthly cash transfer is a policy decision and is yet to be determined,” said Evelyn Mwangi, a senior ICT officer at the Social Protection Secretariat.
The ministry is using an e-registry with data on all categories of beneficiaries under the National Safety Net Programme (NSNP), popularly referred to as Inua Jamii plan. Persons with severe disabilities (PWSD), orphans and vulnerable children make the list of qualified beneficiaries.
The first round of the enhanced old people cash transfer (OPCT) targeting age-related poverty is expected to start in March and will comprise monthly disbursements for January and February under the Inua Jamii plan.
The single registry, which acts as a data warehouse, is linked to the integrated population registration system and is yet to capture the full spectrum of data for the 70 year olds and above.
Ministry of Labour officials said registration for the enhanced OPCT is voluntary and any senior citizen with reliable income such as pension may choose to opt out.
“All registered very poor and extremely vulnerable 70 years and above with no source of income will benefit from the Cash Transfer stipend from GoK,” said the ministry, signalling that those on pension may not get the bi-monthly stipend.
So far, 523,129 senior citizens over 70 years have been registered to receive the March stipend, following a countrywide drive from June to August last year.
The ministry is expected to communicate the final list of senior citizens who will benefit from the programme.
Once out, the list will be filtered and beneficiaries enrolled into the OPCT programme before the first payment. The Treasury allocated Sh6.7 billion to kick-start the scheme in the first half of the year to June.
During the January-February payment cycle, the government planned use approximately Sh2 billion on the enrolled 70 years and above.
The programme is an enhancement of the previous cash transfer channel that was initiated in 2012 targeting those aged above 65 and living in extreme poverty.
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