Is the government broke?
523,000 old citizens who are entitled to a bi-monthly stipend from the State have waited for half a year without the allowance, which has accumulated to arrears of Sh12,000 for each of the beneficiaries.
The last payment was made in September for the July to August cycle.
The government has attributed the delay to an ongoing update of the payment system for the cash transfer scheme that was launched a year ago.
State Department of Social Protection principal secretary Nelson Marwa in an interview on Tuesday said the Treasury will begin disbursement of the cash after updating account details of the beneficiaries.
“A payroll for the beneficiaries with bank accounts has already been forwarded to the Treasury for disbursement of funds. We are likely to begin paying the money next week,” said Mr Marwa.
The senior citizens (+70years) are entitled to Sh2,000 per month, which is paid every two months in a lump sum of Sh4,000.
Delays in releasing the funds have been blamed on the switch to an account-based model where funds will be sent directly to beneficiaries’ bank accounts as opposed to the old card-based system where banks relied on customer verification documents — mainly ID card and passport — and signatures to confirm their identities.
The Treasury allocated Sh6.7 billion to kick-start the programme in January 2018, covering the first half of the year to June. The scheme under the Inua Jamii plan was a key plank of the Jubilee election campaign promises.