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‘Ghosts’ walk away with cash for disabled, poor

 

Some 1,290 unregistered individuals benefited from cash transfers to poor women with severe disabilities, an audit has revealed.

This raises eyebrows on credibility of the multi-billion shilling programme aimed at cushioning the vulnerable from extreme economic shocks.

The Public Service Commission (PSC) said although 5,570 females were registered to benefit from the Cash Transfer to Persons with Severe Disabilities (PWSD) last year, officials of the State Department for Social Protection made payments to 6,860 individuals--- raising concerns over theft through ghost payments totalling Sh31.2 million.

A total of Sh837.51 million was paid out PWSD with some 27,697 males also benefiting from the cash transfers. It means that each of the 34,539 listed beneficiaries took home Sh24,248.24.

“The State Department for Social Protection should establish the reasons for disbursement made to non-registered persons in the programme for persons with severe disabilities,” the PSC said.

Dogged by scandals

The cash transfer programme has in the past been dogged by scandals in, which some officers created ghost lists of beneficiaries and pocketed the money. Some rogue officers also manipulated lists of beneficiaries to include their relatives and cronies, locking out many deserving cases.

The government through the State Department for Social Protection last year continued to implement the Inua Jamii cash transfer programme that targets older persons, orphans and vulnerable children, and Persons with Severe Disabilities.

It also implemented two additional programmes; the Nutrition Improvement Programme through Cash and Health Education (NICHE) and the Presidential Secondary School Bursary Programme (PSSBP).

All the 47 counties benefited from the four programmes save for NICHE, which targeted five counties. Records show that there was an increase of 1.5 percent in disbursement in the 2020/2021 financial year amounting to Sh26.6 billion disbursed to 1,122,326 persons under the five special programmes.

Persons Cash Transfer

The number of beneficiaries also rose by 2.5 percent from the 2019/2020 evaluation period. The Older Persons Cash Transfer programme disbursed the highest amount at Sh18.3 billion representing 68.9 percent.

Out of a population of 941,510 for older persons above 70 years, 89 percent benefited from the Cash Transfer Programme while more females (61 percent) aged 70 and above benefited from the older person’s cash transfer programme.

Overall, the top beneficiaries by county in the five programmes combined were Murang’a with Sh1.2 billion, Kakamega (Sh1.11 billion), Kitui (Sh1.07 billion, Kiambu (Sh1.07 billion), and Nakuru (Sh944 million).    BY DAILY NATION   

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