Inua Jamii for Older People: Who Qualifies and How It Pays

Many older people in Kenya are entitled to a regular payment from the government and are not receiving it. Some have never been registered. Some were registered once and the money stopped. Many more have a son or a granddaughter who would happily sort it out, if only somebody explained how it works.

This article sets out the Older Persons Cash Transfer under Inua Jamii: who qualifies, how a person gets onto it, how the money is collected, and what to do when it stops. Every programme rule below comes from the State Department for Social Protection and Senior Citizen Affairs, at socialprotection.go.ke. Rules do change, so check the current position before anyone travels.

What Inua Jamii is

The State Department describes Inua Jamii as the Government Consolidated Cash Transfer Programme, which supports the most vulnerable citizens with a stipend to cushion them from poverty. It is fully financed by the Government of Kenya. It is not a loan, and it is not a favour from whoever helped with the registration.

It covers three groups: households caring for orphans and vulnerable children, households caring for persons with severe disabilities, and older persons. The older persons part is known as the OPCT, the Older Persons Cash Transfer.

The amount. According to the State Department's frequently asked questions, each beneficiary is expected to receive KSh 2,000 each payment cycle. Payment dates are announced by the department, and the official helpline handles questions about when the next one is due.

Who qualifies

The State Department's page on the Directorate of Social Assistance sets out the conditions for the OPCT:

• The person must be a Kenyan citizen aged 70 years and above, holding a valid national identity card.
• They should have a caregiver who also holds a valid Kenyan national identity card.
• They should have lived in a particular location for at least a year.
• Priority is given to those who are not receiving a pension.

The identity card comes first. An older person without an ID, or whose ID shows a date of birth that does not match their real age, has a problem to solve before anything else. Sort that out before chasing the transfer, and ask the chief's office where to begin.

Choose the caregiver carefully. The caregiver is the person who can deal with the programme on the older person's behalf. Pick someone who lives nearby, is reliable with money, and will still be around in five years. A grandchild about to leave for work in another county is a poor choice, however willing.

How to get registered

The State Department has social development officers at county and sub-county level, and those offices are where an older person or their family should start. The department's own guidance lists the county and sub-county social development offices, chiefs and village elders as points of contact for the programme.

New registration does not stay open all year. It tends to happen in drives, and what is needed can change between one drive and the next. So the honest advice is simple: ask at your sub-county social development office whether registration is open, and what to bring this time. The assistant chief may also know when the last drive happened and who to ask.

Take with you:

1. The older person's original national ID and a copy.
2. The caregiver's original national ID and a copy.
3. A phone number that will still work next year, ideally the caregiver's.
4. Anything the office asked for when you enquired.

Write down the date you registered, the name of the officer, and any reference you were given. If nothing arrives, that note is what lets the helpline trace the case.

Be wary of anyone who offers to get a name onto the list in exchange for money. Report it to the helpline below.

How the money is collected

The State Department has moved Inua Jamii payments from banks to M-Pesa. According to its frequently asked questions, the beneficiary or caregiver no longer needs a bank account. Collection works like this:

1. Go in person to the nearest M-Pesa agent.
2. Hand over the original national ID. The agent checks the number in the system.
3. Give a fingerprint. If the fingerprint fails, a face scan is used instead.
4. Once that succeeds, the money is paid out.

The department gives two instructions in capital letters, and they are worth repeating. Count the money in front of the agent. Take the ID back before you leave.

Fingerprints fade with age and hard work. Many older hands no longer read well on a scanner. That is why the face scan exists. If both fail, do not hand over the ID to anyone who offers to sort it out later; call the helpline.

Do not leave money sitting. In a notice in early 2025, the State Department warned that payments not withdrawn by a set deadline would be taken back by the Ministry and the individuals marked as ineligible. Collect each payment once it arrives.

What to do if the payment stops

Payments stop for several reasons. Some are the programme's error, some are paperwork, and some are because the system has been told something wrong, including, sometimes, that the beneficiary has died. The department's rules say beneficiaries leave the programme when they die, and errors of that kind do happen.

Call 1533. This is the Inua Jamii toll free line. The State Department says it handles delayed payments, missing beneficiaries on the payroll, inclusion and exclusion errors, questions about payment dates, case updates, and registration of new beneficiaries. Its page gives the hours as weekdays, 8am to 5pm.

Other official channels, all named by the department:

• Email: inuajamii@socialprotection.go.ke
• The county or sub-county social development officer
• The chief and village elders
• Safaricom customer care, for problems at the M-Pesa end

When you call or visit, have ready the older person's ID number, the caregiver's ID number, the date of the last payment that arrived, and your notes from registration. Ask for a reference for the complaint and write it down with the date. If nothing has moved in a few weeks, call again and quote it.

If the caregiver changes. Caregivers die, move away, or stop being trustworthy. Do not simply let a new person start collecting. Ask at the sub-county social development office how the caregiver is changed on the record, so the payment follows the older person and not the old arrangement.

Where we fit

Lift A Life Foundation is a community based organisation registered with the County Government of Kiambu, certificate RSC/3811/CBO/2024, working in Ruiru. Caring for the elderly is part of what we are registered to do, and advocacy is another. We cannot register anybody for Inua Jamii or change a payment. Only the State Department can.

What we can do is the part around it. Help a family work out which documents are missing. Sit with an older person while the call to 1533 is made. Go with them to the office when the journey is too much alone. If you are caring for someone over 70 in Ruiru who has never been registered, or whose payment has stopped, tell us. More on older people living alone is in our earlier article, and if you have a free morning to give, see get involved.