The National Treasury is considering lowering the eligibility age for the Inua Jamii cash transfer programme from 70 years to 60 years, under proposals contained in the draft 2026 Budget Policy Statement (BPS).
The document recommends reducing the qualifying age to 60, following concerns raised by the National Assembly during scrutiny of the 2024/25 BPS, which questioned why eligibility was set at 70 despite Kenya’s average life expectancy being 68 years.
“Social safety net programmes remain a central pillar of the government, aimed at reducing poverty, creating jobs and expanding income opportunities for economically excluded populations. In pursuit of these goals, the government continues to strengthen and expand social safety nets and allocate financial resources to safeguard vulnerable groups across the country,” National Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi says in the report.
However, the National Assembly’s Labour and Social Protection Committee has warned that elderly persons, orphans, vulnerable children and persons with severe disabilities under the Inua Jamii programme risk missing their monthly stipends from this month until June 2025, unless the Treasury allocates Sh16.958 billion in the Supplementary Budget II.
The committee said the State Department for Social Protection and Senior Citizens Affairs informed it that the funding gap arose following President William Ruto’s directive to upscale the Inua Jamii programme.
The Inua Jamii Programme currently supports poor elderly persons with a monthly cash transfer of Sh2,000, alongside components targeting orphans, vulnerable children, and persons living with severe disabilities.
In 2023, President Ruto directed the then Labour and Social Protection CS Florence Bore to enlist an additional 500,000 beneficiaries under the programme.
At the time, Dr Ruto said the expansion was aimed at cushioning vulnerable citizens from poverty and economic shocks while improving their livelihoods.
The government’s budget for cash transfers to elderly citizens is projected to rise by Sh15 billion over the three years to June 2027, as the State prepares for a major recruitment drive expected to increase the number of beneficiaries to about 1.9 million.
