President Uhuru Kenyatta in the home of an elderly couple in Masimba, Kisii. [Photo/ PSCU]
One ofJubilee Party’s key projects, the Cash Transfer programme, is turning around the lives of elderly people in Kisii, President Uhuru Kenyatta has found out while visiting the region. During a visit to Masimba, Kisii, the President went to the home of an elderly couple, Mr and Mrs Bosire Matundura, and heard firsthand how the monthly stipend they get has transformed their lives. They explained to the head of state how the Inua Jamie initiative has given them back dignity and how they can now afford the basic needs. "It is about handing control of our lives back to us," Matundura said.
"This means we don't have to rely handouts from our children or other relatives to survive," he told the President.
While inside the couple’s house, the President said the reason he wants to expand the programme is to allow all people over the age of 70 to become beneficiaries. “From next year, everyone over the age of 70 will be enrolled under the programme to protect their dignity and so they can be in control of their lives,” the Jubilee leader said. A group of elderly people in the homestead cheered the President through song and dance in praise of the programme, as the head of state chatted with his excited host.
The government distributed Sh583.4 million to 24,312 elderly people Kisii alone under the cash transfer programme last year. At least 8,460 elderly people in neighbouring Nyamira County received Sh178.8 million under the same initiative.
Overall, the government spent Sh19.8 billion in the last financial year on the elderly people.
[Photos by PSCU]