National Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi is expected
to read highlights of the 2026-27 budget on Thursday next week.
Currently, the house is deliberating on the Budget and Appropriation
Committee’s report that proposes Sh3,000 monthly stipend to the elders recognising
their role in grassroots administration and community dispute resolution.
The lawmakers backed the plan during deliberations on
measures intended to strengthen the national government's administrative
structures at the village level.
Budget and Appropriation Committee vice chairperson Robert
Pukose said the committee agreed that the elders should be appreciated for
their role in the community.
“The budget has looked into all sectors and, for the first
time, the committee has approved Sh3.5 billion for stipends for village
elders,” Pukose said when seconding the budget report.
“We are hoping that, with this budget, the National Government
Administration Officers will now pay stipends of Sh3,000 to village elders.
This is just a start.”
The village administrators have for decades worked
voluntarily alongside chiefs and assistant chiefs in local administration and
security matters.
The stipend is expected to benefit village elders who have
for years served as the first point of contact in resolving local disputes,
mobilising communities for government programmes and assisting security
agencies, often without any formal remuneration.
The stipend is expected to improve the welfare of the elders
while enhancing service delivery at the grassroots level.
Interior Principal Secretary Raymond Omollo while appearing
before the security committee last month told MPs that the programme would
benefit about 110,000 village elders nationwide.
He said the Ministry of Interior had already developed a
policy framework and criteria for the identification of village elders,
following years of consultations and public participation.
“The conversation
about village elders began in 2016 and the House actually gave directions to
the ministry. It has taken almost 10 years to get us here,” Omollo told the committee
chaired by Narok West MP Gabriel Tongoyo.
The PS added that the
government would ensure only elders not benefiting from other state support
programmes, such as the social safety net scheme for the elderly or community
health promoter initiatives, would qualify for the stipend.
