KCB Bank Kenya has disbursed at least Sh23.5 billion under the government’s social welfare programme Inua Jamii over the past one year, putting money in the pockets of thousands of beneficiaries.
Latest government statistics show that this year alone, over Sh14 billion was paid to beneficiaries, effectively deepening the government’s National Social Protection agenda that is focused on increasing the scale, improving the quality and coordination of social assistance interventions through cash transfers.
In the November 2016 payment cycle alone, the Bank disbursed Sh2.4 billion.
Inua Jamii –the National Safety Net Programme (NSNP) runs three Cash Transfer Programmes: Cash Transfer to Orphans and Vulnerable Children (CT-OVC); Older Persons Cash Transfer (OPCT); and Persons with Severe Disability Cash Transfer (PwSD-CT) solution alternatives.
The data shows at least 557,551 beneficiaries have been served over the past one year making this one of the biggest social protection plan in the country. Of these, 327,012 are older persons, 49,890 are persons with severe disabilities while 200,669 are orphans and vulnerable children.
KCB Group Chief Operating Officer Samuel Makome said the Bank is focused on further enhancing the disbursement as part of its resolve to create pathways to financial inclusion for the financial underserved through products, services, technology, payments and strategic partnerships.
“The biometric system has transformed the beneficiary enrolment and payment process, bringing with it efficiency, transparency and speed in disbursement” said Mr Makome. “This has effectively helped deepen financial inclusion and access for the beneficiaries across all the counties. We are working on improving the experience for the beneficiaries,” he said.
Beneficiaries can now receive their payments through KCB Bank Branches, selected Mtaani Agents as well as via cash-in transit such as in remote areas.
KCB Bank introduced the biometric system that scans and saves the beneficiaries’ fingerprints during registration. Beneficiaries can then access their dues only if their fingerprints match the registered individual.
“As we continually work to streamline the programme, we have noted great strides being made towards advancing this through the single registry system. Through it, we have been capturing the information of the beneficiaries from all our programmes to identify and track the individual beneficiaries,” he added.
The three major cash transfer programmes running in 47 counties go to the Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC), Older Persons (OP) and Persons with Severe Disabilities (PwSD).
Under the programme, beneficiaries receive a stipend of Sh2,000 shillings monthly support.
The cash transfers are based on a pre-set criteria, and aim at mitigating chronic or shock-induced poverty, address social risks and reduce economic vulnerability. The initiative was created to assist poor people in meeting their basic consumption needs and improve livelihood opportunities.
“The programme is targeted and focuses on the households that are identified based on the level and priority of vulnerability. Over the last four years, the number of beneficiaries has grown from less than 200,000 to 830,000 beneficiaries which denotes the absolute necessity of the programme,” said the Principal Secretary State Department of Social Protection, Ms. Susan Mochache.
The Inua Jamii Programme was launched in 2015 by President Uhuru Kenyatta as one of the channels that the government of Kenya use to aid in tackling poverty in the region and catering for the under-privileged in society and boosting economic growth.