250,000 elders miss out on Inua Jamii stipend — report

 

At least 250,000 elderly people aged 70 and above are missing out on the government’s social welfare fund, Inua Jamii, a senate report shows.

The report by the Senate Labour and Social Welfare shows that the government has failed to register the group for the bi-monthly stipend since August 2017.

“The State Department acknowledged that some elderly persons have attained the age of 70 years and are not covered by the programme,” the report reads in part.

It emerged that at least 8,192 elderly persons registered into the programme have never been paid.

This is due to a mismatch of their details in the integrated population registration system and double registration.

Another 93, 565 registered beneficiaries with operational bank accounts are not receiving the cash because they are not on the payroll.

Social Protection PS Nelson Marwa told the committee that the process of reinstating them started last month.

The older person’s cash transfer programme is universal and voluntary.

All Kenyan citizens who are 70 years and above are eligible to be registered into the programme.

The only requirement for registration is a valid National Identification card to prove one is a Kenyan and above 70 years.

“The Ministry has not been able to undertake any targeting or registration of new beneficiaries in the cash transfer program for the last five years,” the report says.

Meanwhile, Senators want the government to speed up the enrolment of elderly persons into the state-paid NHIF which was envisioned to be part of the Inua Jamii programme

The report was tabled in the Senate last Thursday by Nairobi Senator Johnson Sakaja whose committee investigated the operations of the programme following a petition the House by petitioners.’

Sakaja noted in the report that Marwa had admitted to the panel that at least 250,000 elderly people are yet to be captured due to a lack of funds to register them.

“These cases can only be registered when the ministry gets additional funding for programme expansion,” the report states.

Inua Jamii programme was initiated by the government to support the elderly, orphans, vulnerable children and people with severe disabilities.

“The State Department for Social Protection, Senior Citizens Affairs and Special programmes, Ministry of Health to engage with the National Treasury to actualise the NHIF programme for persons above 70,” the report states.

At its inception, the NHIF cover for the Inua Jamii programme was a pilot complimentary programme funded by the World Bank through the Health Ministry with the State Department for Social Protection providing logistical support.

The report shows the government intended to commence funding at the end of the pilot.

However, in the current financial year, the State Department for Social Protection was allocated Sh600 million against the required Sh4.9 billion for some 833,000 older persons’ NHIF cover.

“The foregoing could facilitate 100,000 elderly persons at the rate of Sh6,000 per year. Through the advice of the National Treasury, the amount was reallocated to cater for the budget deficit in the cash transfer programme operations,” it states.

“Further, given that no additional funding was made towards this initiative, the programme failed to take off.”    BY THE STAR