Inua jamii recipients to get their cash in time – Ruto
Starting June this year, Kenyans under the inua Jamii cash transfer programme will be getting their money before public servants receive their salaries every month.
The offer by President William Ruto is part of the efforts the Kenya Kwanza administration says it is rolling out to enhance social protection of most vulnerable citizens in the country.
Inua Jamii cash transfer beneficiaries experienced inordinate delays in the July-August and September-October 2022 payment cycles in what the ministry said were challenges occasioned by transition from the previous administration.
“We are confident as a nation and as government that we can simultaneously pursue rapid economic transformation and social protection at the same time and that ultimately we shall achieve both of them,” Dr Ruto said during this year’s Kenya Social Protection Conference.
The government has allocated Kes28 billion to support cash transfer programmes implemented by the State Department for Social Protection.
The governmnent projects that 933,129 households with older persons will be supported through cash transfers in the 2023/24 financial year, the Budget Policy Statement for State Department for Social Protection shows.
This is 100,000 more than the target for the financial year ending in June.
Starting March, every Kenyan is contributing six percent of their pay to their savings as policymakers move to help eliminate old age poverty and instill the culture of savings.
Savings is not a tax, savings is not a burden, it’s the money you set aside for when you’ll be in desperate need, President Ruto explained.
According to government statictics, many of the recipients of the inua jamii cash transfer program are former workers who did not save.
On Universal Health Coverage, the Head of State said it will be possible to pay Kes300 and still keep your National Health Insurance Fund cover. “We are also re-designing the delivery of health services, and will roll out a program to pay a stipend to the 100,000 community health workers or volunteers in the country,” the President added.
Further, for every county government that provides school feeding program, Dr Ruto’s administration has promised to match the funds as national government so that more children can access food in schools to boost their learning.
