Elderly Kirinyaga residents endure long queues in Inua Jamii registration exercise

The exercise aims to establish the actual number of genuine beneficiaries and remove the names of people who may have died but remain on the programme’s register.

Residents have been forced to wake up early and travel long distances with their elderly relatives to five sub-county social services offices, where many spend entire days waiting to be served.

“I have come all the way from Kiamugumo and yesterday I was still here. I wish these machines were everywhere instead of being in the main office only,” said Julius Njeru at the Kianyaga Social Services offices in Gichugu.

Gichugu Deputy County Commissioner Kamau Maina said the exercise was intended to establish the exact number of people benefiting from the programme but acknowledged that the process was being slowed down by a shortage of registration equipment.

He said each sub-county had only one machine, making it difficult to serve the large number of elderly people seeking registration.

“It is taking too long to clear one elderly person. People are coming from far, and they are saying it would be better if the machine was brought closer to them,” Maina said.

The challenges have also been reported in Mwea West Sub-County, where caregivers are spending long hours at registration centres with their elderly relatives.

Susan Wangeci, from Gitoboto in Ciagini Location, said she had accompanied her elderly mother to the Mwea offices but had spent the day without food as they waited to be served.

Caregivers have appealed to the government to decentralise the exercise by taking registration equipment to villages, arguing that the long distances and queues are particularly difficult for elderly persons.

“We are not blaming the social services officers, but the government should provide more machines instead of only one machine per sub-county,” said Jane Wairimu.

Gichugu MP Robert Gicimu Githinji, who visited the Kianyaga Social Services offices, said the exercise should be taken closer to beneficiaries to ease the burden on elderly residents.

After meeting social services officers, Githinji said they had agreed to move the registration machine to different villages rather than require elderly persons to travel long distances and wait in queues at the sub-county offices.

He said vehicles provided through the National Government Constituencies Development Fund (NG-CDF) would be used to transport the machine to villages.

“They are suffering. Let us take the machine to them, even on weekends,” Githinji said.

The proposed arrangement is expected to bring the registration exercise closer to residents and reduce the difficulties faced by elderly persons seeking to remain on the Inua Jamii programme