The cash programme introduced by the Kenya Red Cross Society is proving successful in tackling the disaster of drought and famine that has rocked many parts of the country.
It may not be reaching all the more than 2.4 million Kenyans starving, but the few beneficiaries are feeling the impact of the funds.
They can make use of the cash being given to buy food for the stipulated four-month period and plan how to use it wisely before it expires.
Money circulation for the victims of drought is a major issue, and some people find it like a miracle to get the Sh3,000 in form of Mpesa when the message hits their phones.
The use of Mpesa in disbursing the funds has also reduced the burden of cost of transport from the vulnerable families to get the money.
A similar programme of cash transfer initiated by the national government, Protected Relief and Recovery Operation, has been hard to get for elderly people over 60 years, as they are forced to travel to towns with banks and queue to receive the cash.
Sometimes the elderly men and women spend more than a day and wait in large numbers outside the bank to get the money.
The KRCS’s programme targets families hit by the disaster of drought and famine. On January 9, the Red Cross was in Gotani, Kilifi county, to launch the second phase of the cash transfer programme.
There were 1,300 people who will be getting Sh3,000 monthly in four months.
According to latest statistics, Kaloleni subcounty is the worst-hit area in Kilifi, with more than 69,651 people requiring relief assistance due to the disaster.
During the launch, it was clear from residents’ faces that they were desperately in need of humanitarian assistance.
Some had walked for long distances to reach the venue, which was a central place to ensure the funds are dispatched once. Many of them had difficulties in reading the messages or confirming if they had received the Mpesa, and despite old age, scrambled in front of Kenya Red Cross officials to ask them to confirm for them.
The beneficiaries had come all the way from the farthest ends of the constituency, which is completely dry, including Miyani, Tsangatsini, Mutulu, Gogoraruhe, Mrimani, Ikanga, Mnazimwenga and Mtsengo areas.
Present at the launch were county commissioner Joseph Keter, Kenya Red Cross county coordinator Hakima Masoud, Kaloleni deputy county commissioner Fred Ndunga, Kayafungo MCA Alphonce Mwayaa, chiefs and their assistants.
HOW IT WORKS
Masoud said they first met with the Kilifi county steering group, who identified the needy subcounties, wards and locations and targeted beneficiaries as per their vulnerability.
“We called two meetings for each sublocation to meet the key people, separately to choose the right people. Once agreed, we went to the village level to identify the households,” she said.
The aim of being thorough in identification, Masoud said, is to ensure they get the ones who are really in need and avoid cases of duplication.
She said sometimes people are chosen and happen to be beneficiaries in other programmes, such as the one by national government.
After certifying that the people selected are the most deserving, their details are taken and filled to a database created by the Kenya Red Cross, and they are verified ahead of the day of disbursing.
Masoud said they will do post-distribution in two weeks to check on the impact of the money to the household, how they spent the money and their feelings about the programme.
“Apart from cash transfer, we also do training on nutrition to ensure the locals know the kinds of foods to buy,’’ she said.
By November last year, the malnutrition rate in Kilifi was 6.4 per cent.
Masoud said the National Drought Management Authority is screening all children below five years in Kilifi to establish the exact locations that are vulnerable.
She said in Kaloleni, they will train community health volunteers to begin training beneficiaries immediately to ensure they buy nutritious food.
Those at high risk during the ongoing disaster are expectant women and lactating mothers.
JOYFUL RECIPIENTS
Beneficiaries of the fund could not hide their joy upon receiving the cash. One of them, Kadzo Kalume, was all in smiles as she walked out of an Mpesa agent at Gotani village after receiving the Mpesa from Kenya Red Cross.
She held the Sh3,000 in her hands and counted the money to prove that in deed she was taking home cash.
Asked about what she would do to the money, the mother of four children said, “I will buy flour for my children. Nothing else until the next transaction comes.”
Kalume said she never expected to be one of the beneficiaries and thanked the humanitarian organisation for initiating such a programme.