By Loness Gwazanga
BLANTYRE-(MANA)-Social Cash Transfer beneficiaries have urged government to continue including the elderly in the program to ensure their long lasting sustainability of their lives.
One of the beneficiaries who is also visual impaired, 90 year old Bisiyoni Mteteya of Jordan Village Traditional Authority (T.A) Lundu in Blantyre said that if not for the transfers, his life would not have been the same since he has no energy to work and feed his family.
Mteteya said this on Thursday and Friday during a media tour organised by National Local Government Finance Committee (NLFC) aimed at appreciating the impact of the program in transforming ultra-poor households with labour constraints.
“In the past, I used to grow a lot of maize because I was young and energetic hence I had food to take me and my family throughout the year. But since I became blind in 1998, things totally changed for the worse and I became unproductive.
“But since I started receiving MK10, 000 per month through the program in 2018, I am able to buy food and other necessities that I could otherwise not afford. Additionally, I now have four goats that I managed to purchase through the same money,” explained Mteteya.
Blantyre District Social Cash Transfer Coordinator, Dumisani Maona said Mteteya was among 7897 households in the district that are benefiting from the program and according to him, Mteteya’s transformation clearly shows that the program is moving towards the right direction.
“Imagine the Mteteya, a man with visual impairment being able to buy livestock through the programme. This is why as a government we are taking the initiative to monitor such progress and we are satisfied,” said Maona.
According to Maona, out of the total number of beneficiaries, 55 percent are females headed households and plans are currently underway to enroll additional 300 households to ensure that more ultra-poor households equally benefit in the district.
Social Cash Transfer beneficiaries are entitled to receive benefits for a four year long period before being subject to a recertification.
On the other hand, households shall exit the program if they dissolve completely among other factors.
Base transfer amounts range from MK4,000 to a one member households to a maximum of K8, 000 in a four member household.
An education primary bonus of MK1, 000 is also part of the deal as the program also intends to advance towards achieving better education as well as nutrition, health and shelter for the poorest in Malawi.
