COVID-19 cash relief to cover 38% of total households in KMP area.

Following a presidential directive, the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development (MGLSD) on Tuesday briefed the country on the proposal to transfer cash to vulnerable persons.

The directive was made on June 18, as President Yoweri Museveni addressed the nation on COVID-19. The beneficiaries are those dwelling in urban areas who depend on daily earnings that have been interrupted by the COVID-19 containment measures.

Museveni directed the Prime Minister and the MGLSD to identify and assess the needs of vulnerable groups during the lockdown period and come up with interventions to take care of their needs.

Betty Amongi Akena, the minister of Gender, Labour and Social Development revealed that the proposed cash transfer is aimed to cover at least 38% of the total households in the Kampala Metropolitan Area.

“The proposed cash transfer shall aim to reach 501,107 households (38% of the total households) in the Kampala Metropolitan Area, all Cities and Municipalities. It is proposed that each beneficiary household will receive UGX 100,000 net. The Government will cater for the withdrawal fees,” Amongi said.

According to Amongi, the proposal cash transfer is based on the minimum expenditure of 20kgs of Posho (UGX 40,000), 10Kgs of beans (UGX 25,000), a bar of soap (UGX 3,000), 3 litres of cooking oil (UGX 12,000) and other needs valued at UGX 20,000.

Some of the categories of vulnerable persons as identified by the Cabinet in a meeting held on Monday are, baggage carriers, artists, car washers, orphans, shoe shiners, teachers and support staff in private schools and teachers in Government schools not on Government payroll, among others.

“Those whose National Identification Names (NINs) do not correspond with the mobile money account details shall access funds through Post Bank mobile vans,” Amongi further revealed.

The MGLSD together with the Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBoS) will guide the Cities and Municipalities on the number of persons to be selected. UBoS and Town Clerks will be responsible for aggregating existing data and updating.

The disbursement of this money is expected to start within the next two weeks. Also, Amongi noted that the names of the beneficiaries will be displayed in various villages to ascertain that people who fall in those categories do not miss out.

This list of beneficiaries is expected to be ready by July 4 to ensure that the cash is transferred to them with immediate effect. This initiative was partly opted for in a bid to deviate away from the corruption tendencies that defined the previous relief support in the form of food.