- It further says there will be periodic reviews of the beneficiaries to ascertain if they still qualify to benefit.
- The Bill also provides for periodic review of the financial assistance offered to elderly persons to factor in inflation and the rising cost of living.
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Persons earning low wages will also be entitled to social assistance should a Bill before the National Assembly sail through.
The Social Assistance (Amendment) Bill, 2023 sponsored by Suna West MP Peter Francis Masara says there will be criteria for identifying a person who earns a low wage to benefit from government assistance.
It further says there will be periodic reviews of the beneficiaries to ascertain if they still qualify to benefit.
The Bill also provides for periodic review of the financial assistance offered to elderly persons to factor in inflation and the rising cost of living.
“This is to ensure that elderly members of the Kenyan society are able to live dignified lives regardless of their age,” it says.
The principal object of the Bill is to amend the Social Assistance Act, No. 24 of 2013 to require the Social Assistance Authority to collaborate with county governments and the National Health Insurance Fund in the provision of social assistance to elderly persons.
The elderly are to get shelter and health care services such as free cancer screening and treatment, kidney treatment and counselling services.
“The expansion of the social protection coverage to include low-income earners and the NHIF coverage for the elderly persons is estimated to cost approximately Sh194.3 billion in year one of implementation,” Masara said in his submissions to the Budget and Appropriations Committee for consideration of the Bill.
The 2019 Kenya National Population Housing Census revealed that the population of persons between the ages of 65 to 100 and above was 3,068,758 persons.
Currently, 8.9 million Kenyans earn less than a dollar per day and only about 1.5 million are covered through the various social protection programs leaving a gap of 7.4 million Kenyans.
The State Department for Social Protection is mandated to coordinate social protection policies and programmes for persons with disabilities, orphans and vulnerable children and the elderly.
In the past three financial years, policies under the state department were geared towards prioritisation of social safety net with specific emphasis on cash transfers.
The major policy priorities underpinning the sectoral expenditure priorities for the FY 2023/24 and the medium term were to scale up resources to cushion the vulnerable members of the society under the social safety net programme (Inua Jamii) including the Kenya Hunger Safety Net Programme.