Devolution PS Nelson Marwa is under fire regarding the Sh1.3 billion beneficiary list meant to cushion the poor amid the Coronavirus menace in the country.
Star reports that concerns were raised by Members of Parliament after the Labour Ministry failed to produce the list of the beneficiaries who were to benefit from billions of shillings that were raised to aid the poor people in the four counties that were under lockdown.
Marwa held a virtual meeting with the committee yesterday, May 5, 2020.
Apparently, upon questioning, MPs learnt that Devolution PS Nelson Marwa was not the custodian of the beneficiaries list as should be the case since he is the accounting officer for the fund.
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Rather, the PS accounted that the list was with the Interior Ministry thus leading to confusion as the MPs were not convinced since the role fell under his mandate.
“We have written to the Ministry of Interior and National Coordination requesting for the list of the beneficiaries and amount paid to each. The list will be submitted to Parliament upon receipt. However, the amount paid per beneficiary is Sh2,000 for every two weeks for the next three months totalling to Sh12,000. The money is being delivered through Safaricom M-Pesa system,” he said.
The committee led by chairman Ali Wario indicated that there existed conflicting information quoting that when the interior CS appeared before them, he mentioned Marwa as the accounting officer.
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“You said you have written to the Interior PS for the names of beneficiaries but when the CS appeared before us, we asked who is the accounting officer, and he said PS Marwa. Is it that you are only there to sign cheques without knowing the real beneficiaries?” Wario asked.
Following the COVID-19 pandemic, President Uhuru Kenyatta introduced lockdown in the counties of Nairobi, Kwale, Kilifi and Mombasa with a programme to help cushion the needy.
Ideally, a multi-agency team had already settled on 108,119 beneficiaries who were to receive Sh2,000 every two weeks for a period of three months.
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In the publication, Marwa was also castigated over how he dispensed the beneficiaries in the four counties since the documents tabled indicated that Kwale had the highest beneficiaries at 48,627, followed by Kilifi with 33,817 households enrolled for the programme. Nairobi has 20,396 while Mombasa has 5,359 households.
Further, Marwa disclosed that the elderly would be forced to wait longer for their universal health cover as there were budgetary constraints in the ministry.
Apparently, the ministry only received Sh600 million against the anticipated Sh6 billion.
“Later in 2019-20, a budget of Sh600 million was provided for this activity but this could only cover the beneficiaries for one month. In the absence of getting the required Sh6 billion, it was decided to reallocate this amount to cover some beneficiaries in the programme as part of the Sh3.9 billion budget deficit.” Marwa said.
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