The beneficiaries are drawn from parts of Kiharu and Maragua Constituencies which have high rates of poverty.
The department of social protection with officers from World Bank have rolled out the programme to educate beneficiaries of cash transfer in selected counties on how to use their monthly stipends prudently.
The exercise of equipping the beneficiaries with financial skills is being done under a Kenya Social and Economic Inclusion Programme, which will run for five years.
The Sh32 billion programme is aimed at changing the perception of beneficiaries to enable them to use part of the given money to invest in small-scale projects.
The head of Social Assistances Unit at the Department of Social Protection, John Gachigi told KNA areas of the project include Murang’a, Kitui and Taita Taveta counties.
He said that more than 7500 beneficiaries will be incorporated into the programme.
Gachigi said the World Bank has given the government a loan of Sh25 bllion while the remaining Sh7 billion will be a grant from DFID.
“After the piloting, the programme will be rolled out to all other beneficiaries countrywide to equip them with skills, which will enable them have a change of mindset on the stipend given by the government.
“We aim to tell the beneficiaries to start small scale enterprises, which will enable them to generate income and avoid total dependency on the little money given by the government,” added Gachigi, while paying a courtesy call to the County Commissioner Mohammed Barre on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, after training the beneficiaries will be given a top-up amount to assist them to invest in small-scale enterprises.
The three cash transfer programmes for older persons, orphans and those living with severe disabilities are supporting 1.23 million households in the country.
Gachigi said the migration from card payment to Bank account payment would assist the beneficiaries to start saving part of the money.
He added that they are working with other relevant government agencies to improve social welfare for the vulnerable groups.
At the same time, the social protection official said the government was in the process of enrolling the beneficiaries with NHIF, saying the move will help the recipients to get free treatment.
On his part, Murang’a county commissioner Mr. Mohammed Barre underscored the need to equip cash transfer beneficiaries with financial skills.