This archive report was first published on 11 May 2020.
On Monday, Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiangi appeared before the Senate Ad-hoc committee on COVID-19 to discuss the government's plan to support vulnerable families.
According to Matiangi, the government has identified 250,000 households in low-income informal settlement areas across Kenya's urban centers to receive a weekly stipend of Sh1000.
The targeted households, spread across areas such as Nyalenda in Kisumu, Banglandesh in Mombasa, Kiandutu slums, Mathare, Kibera, Mukuru Kwa Njenga, and Mukuru Kwa Reuben, will have their stipends sent via mobile money service platforms.
“The study that we carried out showed that these people with a budget of sh 4000 a month, they can afford a basic livelihood, not absolute comfort but basic livelihood,” stated Matiangi.
The resources to support the programme are drawn from recovered proceeds of corruption and the well-wishers donations through the COVID-19 Fund established by President Uhuru Kenyatta.
On Saturday, Matiangi accompanied COVID-19 Fund Chairperson Jane Karuku in distributing 10 tonnes of food relief to vulnerable communities from Mukuru kwa Njenga.
President Kenyatta had announced the government's plan to support vulnerable Kenyans during the period the country is battling the coronavirus pandemic, with needy families receiving a weekly stipend from government to cushion them from the effects of the pandemic.
