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Slum dwellers to benefit from EU cash transfer programme

Thursday, July 16th, 2020 00:00 | By
NMS Director General Maj-Gen Mohamed Badi with EU deputy ambassador Katrin Hagemann and Amref-Africa chief executive Githinji Gitahi at KICC, yesterday. Photo/PD/JOHN OCHIENG

About 80,000 people in informal settlements will benefit from a new European Union MPesa cash transfer programme.

EU deputy ambassador, Katrin Hagemman announced in Nairobi that each of the estimated 20,000  households will get Sh7,600 per month to cushion them from the ravages of the Covid-19 pandemic.

She said the support is also part of a wider eight month programme announced in a new partnership with Amref Health Africa targeting nine counties where the EU has advanced a grant of Sh40 million to minimise the Covid-19 risk through prevention, prompt detection and effective response to the disease.

“This support is flexible so that as the crisis evolves we can also shift.  We are also supporting communities in informal settlements by cash transfers via M-Pesa, identified together with Oxfam households that really need extra money because they can’t work, or they have extra cost because of the crisis and they are getting for three months cash transfers to help them deal with the crisis,” she said while flanked by Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS) director general, Mohamed Badi.

“Immediately we saw that the crisis was going to come to Africa, we realised that we will have to think about how we are going to shift support to Kenya to avert the crisis,” she said.

Counties to benefit from the cash transfers include Kajiado, Kiambu, Kitui, Laikipia, Machakos, Nairobi, Nakuru, Nyeri and Uasin Gishu. 

“We have this particular component which is focused on the health sector in the shortest time possible to strengthen health systems, but also trade and Small and Medium Enterprises that have suffered the impact of Covid-19 since March this year,” she said.

“We are also supporting the trade sector to ensure that the exports can still go on that the country does not collapse economically because of the crisis.

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