Government to verify beneficiaries of Covid-19 relief cash

Government has launched a verification exercise intended to check the validity of the proposed beneficiaries  of the Covid-19 relief cash.

Government intends to give Shs 100,000 per head to those people deemed to be vulnerable to the effects to the Covid-19 lockdown. The disbursement of the money is expected to begin on July 6.

The move followed cry from some people who claimed that people on the government list were not the most vulnerable.

The Minister of Gender, Labour and Social Development, Betty Amongi ,said the information on the list was intended to be verified adding that the persons targeted are particularly those who depend on daily earnings which have been interrupted by the Covid-19 containment measures.

"It’s my pleasure to let you know that the exercise kicked off successfully with the mobilisation of stakeholders who are playing different roles in the execution of the assignment. The Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development is leading daily meetings with stakeholders to ensure that planned activities are carried out seamlessly," she said during a press briefing in Kampala.

She explained that a line of tools have also been developed and issued out to Kampala Capital City Authority(KCCA), cities and municipality authorities to facilitate their mandates.

The registration process is led by the town clerks working with Community Development Officers(CDO), labour officers and other technical officers as the town clerks will deem fit.

She said town clerks were chosen to lead the process because they are the custodians of information on the target persons including those who run daily incomes businesses in these urban areas.

However, to ensure that the lists of beneficiaries are updated and validated, Amongi said that the town clerks are supposed to ensure that the lists are displayed in the communities for purposes of collecting feedback that aids in the update of the lists.

“We have already noticed that in some areas residents are complaining about the persons on the list, but we want to remind them that the display exercise is meant to serve that exact purpose; that the lists have input from the local communities. We therefore commend the feedback and encourage everyone to make contributions through their leaders,"she said.