Government has called on stakeholders in Mpika District to support the forthcoming Social Cash Transfer beneficiary headcount exercise aimed at verifying beneficiaries and ensuring that financial assistance reaches households that are genuinely vulnerable. Mpika District…

Government has called on stakeholders in Mpika District to support the forthcoming Social Cash Transfer beneficiary headcount exercise aimed at verifying beneficiaries and ensuring that financial assistance reaches households that are genuinely vulnerable.

Mpika District Administrative Officer, Steven Mulenga said the exercise was important in strengthening the integrity of the programme by identifying beneficiaries who have died, relocated or whose socio-economic circumstances have changed, making them no longer eligible for assistance.

Mr Mulenga said the Social Cash Transfer Programme, implemented by the Ministry of Community Development and Social Services, remains one of government’s key interventions in combating extreme poverty.

He explained that the progarmme is providing regular financial support to labour-constrained and vulnerable households, including elderly persons, persons with severe disabilities, chronically ill individuals and child-headed households.

Mr Mulenga explained that although the transition to digital payments had improved the efficiency and security of disbursements, it had reduced direct interaction between social welfare officers and beneficiaries, making regular verification exercises necessary to establish their identities, confirm their eligibility and update beneficiary records.

He emphasised that the headcount exercise was not intended to punish or unfairly remove deserving households from the programme but to safeguard public resources, eliminate irregularities and create room for other vulnerable households to benefit from the intervention.

He urged beneficiaries to cooperate with officials during the exercise by remaining in their respective communities and presenting their National Registration Cards and disability cards, where applicable, to facilitate verification.

 The District Administrative Officer also called on government departments and other stakeholders to provide accurate information on deaths, relocations and other changes affecting beneficiaries.

Mr Mulenga further urged members of the District Development Coordinating Committee (DDCC) to actively participate in the exercise by sensitising communities, reporting irregularities and supporting the verification process.

He noted that an accurate beneficiary register would ensure that every kwacha allocated to the programme reached its intended recipients.

Mpika District Social Welfare Officer Mazhina Chipota has called for regular reassessment of Social Cash Transfer beneficiaries to ensure that only eligible and genuinely vulnerable households continue receiving financial assistance.

 Ms Chipota said the ongoing beneficiary headcount exercise would help identify individuals whose socio-economic circumstances had improved, children who had attained adulthood and beneficiaries who had died, so that they could be graduated or removed from the programme accordingly.

She explained that the Social Cash Transfer Programme was not intended to provide lifelong assistance, but rather to support vulnerable households until they attained a level of self-reliance, citing beneficiaries who had improved their livelihoods through the acquisition of livestock and construction of houses.

Ms Chipota said the exercise would also strengthen accountability, improve the accuracy of beneficiary records and address payment challenges arising from incorrect personal details, mismatched National Registration Card information and blocked SIM cards.

She urged stakeholders, including community structures and government departments, to support community mobilisation and sensitisation, adding that beneficiaries would be required to present their National Registration Cards and disability cards, where applicable, during verification.

The District Social Welfare Officer disclosed that beneficiaries who were temporarily away from their communities would be guided on alternative ways of submitting photographs holding their National Registration Cards to facilitate verification.

Ms Chipota has further called on stakeholders to collaborate in the dissemination of information to the beneficiaries as a way to rid of misinformation.

Social Welfare Assistant Kaula Nyirenda said stakeholders were key to the success of the programme because of their regular engagement with community members, particularly vulnerable households benefiting from Government’s social protection interventions.

Ms Nyirenda said the Social Cash Transfer Programme, implemented by the Ministry of Community Development and Social Services, provides regular financial assistance to extremely poor and labour-constrained households, with Mpika District currently recording 14,213 beneficiaries under 66 Community Welfare Assistance Committees (CWACs).

She said the district was targeting to migrate all beneficiaries to the urban payment system by December 2026, noting that 13,251 beneficiaries were already on the urban system, while 980 remained under the rural arrangement.