Government to enroll all elders in cash transfer plan

Social Protection PS Joseph Motari with elderly persons at in Kasarani, Nairobi. [Jacinta Mutura, Standard]

The government has promised to enroll all elderly persons into the cash transfer programme.

Social Protection and Senior Citizens Affairs Principal Secretary Joseph Motari said all eligible older persons will be onboarded into the programme.

Motari said this will ensure all elderly persons are cushioned against the harsh economic environment.

He made the remarks at the Little Sisters of the Poor in Kasarani, Nairobi where he donated food and clothing to at least 60 older persons.

According to the PS, the government has so far enrolled over 1.9 million persons in the cash transfer programme.

"We had 1.2 million last year and this year we have registered another 500,000. We have an additional 194,000 whom we expunged from the register because they didn't exist and now we are replacing them," said Motari.

He was accompanied by Correctional Services Principal Secretary Salome Muhia.

In Nairobi, the PS said more than 12,000 vulnerable older persons are beneficiaries of the programme.

"The government has developed a strategy to progressively increase the number of older persons to benefit from the programme," said the PS.

Motari also said the ministry is developing an older persons Bill.