The Government has streamlined its systems to end delays in release of the Inua Jamii Cash Transfer funds, State Department of Social Protection Principal Secretary Joseph Motari has said.
The PS divulged that the money will be released on 15th of every month on directive from President William Ruto.
This is after the government delayed releasing the money for eight months leading to hue and cry from beneficiaries who solely depend on the kitty for their upkeep and basic needs.
Speaking in Thika town during the disbursement of wheelchairs and other assistive devices, donated by an NGO known as Hope Mobility Kenya, to over 300 beneficiaries, Motari averred that the delays hurt those in the programme and especially the severely handicapped.
The PS, who was accompanied by the Parliamentary Committee on Social Protection Chairperson Alice Ng’ang’a, also disclosed that the government has rolled out a program to register more handicapped persons, the elderly and orphans into the programme.
He affirmed that the majority of deserving vulnerable Kenyans have been missing out on the Government funds that’s meant to cushion them from the current economic upheavals.
Motari at the same time indicated that the department is partnering with NGOs and other corporates in programmes to extend support to vulnerable groups and especially the disabled across the country. He hailed Hope Mobility group for the initiative.
He also called on parents with physically and mentally challenged children not to hide them but instead expose them saying the government through the department is extending financial aid to them.
Ng’ang’a who’s also the Thika town MP said that the partnership between the government and the NGOs will see similar programmes of distributing wheelchairs and other assistive devices including walkers and clutches to needy handicapped persons in other regions across the country.
Hope Mobility Kenya Director Jack Muthui divulged that they have been assisting the handicapped with the equipment for close to a decade.
He however called on the government to consider scrapping the excise duty imposed on the wheelchairs that are usually donated to needy Kenyans noting that the high taxation has been a snag in their noble course.
Meanwhile, PS Motari disclosed that the government will from next week start revamping the Thika Rescue Center to enhance rehabilitation of street children and other victims.
