Orphaned and vulnerable children in secondary schools from Marsabit County will benefit from an allocation of Sh2.6 million as bursary from the national government.
In addition, the government has also released over Sh58 million to 7, 318 beneficiaries of two social protection programmes, the older persons’ cash transfer (OP-TC) and persons with severe disability (PWSD-CT) in the county.
County Coordinator of Children Services Simon Ogao said the money has been dispatched to the county in the last two quarters of this financial year.
Ogao asked parents and guardians of deserving cases to apply for the bursary to enable his office distribute the money.
He said the government intended to raise the allocation to over Sh5 million by the end of the financial year to enable the students to access the kitty and education uninterrupted.
County Coordinator for Social Development Esther Chiwe said Sh54, 024, 000 has been credited into the accounts of 6, 753 OP-TC beneficiaries and Sh4, 520,000 paid out to 565 PWSD-CT recipients across the county.
Ms. Chiwe explained that the social welfare and assistance extended to the beneficiaries was aimed at poverty reduction through the provision of a regular and predictable cash transfer.
She observed that livelihood options usually deteriorated with age which makes older people vulnerable to reduced income and day to day challenges.
“By providing economic support to affected households, cash transfers by the government to old people help to mitigate the burden,” she said.
Implementation of the programmes has been faced with various challenges that include missing tokens, double carding and beneficiaries opening accounts in more than one bank.
By Sebastian Miriti
