By Vincent Khonje

Mchinji, December 6, Mana: Ministry of Gender, Community Development, and Social Welfare, has assured Malawians that efforts are being made to ensure that all eligible ultra-poor households and vulnerable households get into the Social Cash Transfer Programme (SCTP).

During her visit to beneficiaries in the area of Senior Chief Mavwere in Mchinji district on Friday, Minister responsible Jean Sendeza acknowledged the increase in the programme's number of beneficiaries and the benefits they are receiving.

She, however, said government is aware of some challenges that need to be addressed to allow more deserving beneficiaries.

“The beneficiaries have done a lot with the cash transfers that they receive, some are sending children to school, some have constructed houses, some are buying food and some have accumulated livestock,

“We have observed recently that there are some challenges with the identification of beneficiaries. So what we have decided is that we need to make sure that we find other means of identifying those that can be on the beneficiary list. We need to have those that are deserving to be on the list, not just anyone else,” said Sendeza.

Currently, the beneficiaries are drawn from the Universal Beneficiary Registry (UBR) which is a database that consolidates information on beneficiaries of various social protection programmes.

Senior chief Mavwere said he was of the idea that there should be other means of identifying beneficiaries of the programme.

“The current scenario is that there are more deserving beneficiaries that need to be considered so that they also benefit just like their colleagues are doing. We need these people to be part of the programme so I would be happy if we can find other means of identifying the beneficiaries,” said Senior Chief Mavwere.

Mercy Wilson of Mnzingo Village in the area is one of the beneficiaries of SCTP and is taking care of five children on her own and said the programme has helped her to push through.

“I am very happy with the programme as I can feed my children and send them to school too. I have a daughter at Mchinji Secondary School but I can support her with her education needs,” said Wilson.

The Minister visited three households in Mnzingo Village where the beneficiaries told her how they are benefitting from the programme.

Mchinji has 114 clusters and 14875 beneficiaries which include the elderly, child-headed, labour-constrained and those with disabilities.