Nairobi — The Central Organisation of Trade Unions has criticised the government move to start a welfare scheme for the poor.
COTU Secretary General Francis Atwoli said that the scheme is discriminative as it will target only a group of people in the country.
He added that it is prone to abuse by some people in the government who will use the project to "siphon tax payers' money into their pockets like seen in other previous schemes."
Mr Atwoli pointed out that hunger is a countrywide problem causing deaths in various parts of the country.
The initiative, he said, is discriminative as people are dying of hunger in Turkana District, Coast, Nyanza and Western provinces.
"To come up with a scheme targeting only those living in the slum areas in the city puts to question the government's commitment to serve all Kenyan's equally," he said.
Plans to disburse Sh1, 500 every month to about 200,000 poor families will be debated by Cabinet in its next sitting following recommendations by a government Task Force formed in February to find the means of managing a food subsidy scheme for the poor.
The Task Force, under the office of the Prime Minister, recommended that Treasury allocates an initial Sh600 million for an eight-month pilot project to disburse Sh1,500 to 100,000 poor families living in Nairobi's low income settlements of Mathare, Korogocho, Mukuru and Kibera slums.
The project is then expected to spread to Kisumu and Mombasa to cover another 100, 000 poor families next year.
If implemented, the Saidia Jamii could be Kenya's first ever cash -based goodwill programme to assist the poor in Kenya.
Other programmes already being run by the government include the distribution of low cost maize flour in the low income settlements across Nairobi.
However, the low cost maize project seems to have stalled due to dwindling stocks at the National Cereals and Produce Board.
Mr Atlowi urged the government to seek better ways of embracing long term programmes that will be sustainable in helping the poor around the country.
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Atwoli is right with his critism,besides it is wrong for the government to concentrate on treating the symptoms of poverty instead of poverty itself.Giving the needy handouts will only help cause pauperisation of the poor;as they will be too comfortable with status quo to seek their way out of poverty.If the government is genuine about helping the needy,let it create a levelled playing field in the economic realm and the poor will get fish for themselves.