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Kenya Mishandled Covid-19 Cash Programme for the Poor - HRW

The government has been accused of failing to properly handle a cash transfer programme intended to help the poor during the Covid-19 pandemic, with the funds going to people connected with government officials and politicians, Human Rights Watch (HRW) has said in a report. 

In May 2020, President Uhuru Kenyatta ordered the Treasury to release approximately U.S.$100 million to support the country's most vulnerable people for at least eight months. "The money never served its intended purpose," the head of HRW in East Africa, Otsieno Namwaya has said.

The Washington-based rights group says its investigators spoke to 136 government employees and Nairobi residents for its eight-month study. 

HRW is calling on authorities to investigate the issue and extensively review and strengthen internal mechanisms for implementing such programmes in the future.

Documents

InFocus

Noor Khamis/Thomson Reuters Foundation

(file photo).

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