14 billion Kwacha has been transferred to ultra poor households in Malawi under Social Cash Transfer Programme (SCTP) a sub component of MASAF IV Programme.

Natonal Local Government Finance Committee [NLGFC] Social Development Officer, Mateso Kazembe said this in an interview with this newsletter.  Kazembe said 2020 is exceptional as payment of transfers has been regular and fulfilling MASAF IV guiding principles.

“In 2020, despite COVID-19 pandemic, we made sure that the programme implementation was not affected. We are grateful for milestones we have achieved this year especially upward adjustment of average transfers to MK9,000 from MK6,500 per household,” said Kazembe.

Kazembe said adjustment is supposed to happen every financial year but could not materialize in last 3 years.

Other notable milestones achieved under SCT programme this year include transferring resources to councils for two cycles (March-April;May-June)  at once and also implementing a  vertical expansion where SCTP beneficiary households received an extra MK5, 000 on top of average MK 9,000 for a period of four months as part of the Covid19 pandemic response to help them afford basic needs.

Furthermore, all councils received Covid 19 Personal Protective Equipment [PPE] to distribute in clusters in Council's.

 On challenges facing programme, the Social Development Officer, said issues of abuse of beneficiary resources still popped up here and there. “cases of duplication and ghost beneficiaries are some of the issues that the component has had to iron out together with central level team such that some suspected officials in councils have been suspended and will be prosecuted,” he said.

SCTP is an unconditional Malawi Government cash transfer programme which supports ultra-poor and incapacitated households in the country. It aims to reduce poverty, hunger and starvation in targeted households  all councils..

The MASAF IV project finally shuts shop in March 2021. However,  SCTP will continue to be implemented under its successor, Social Support Resilient Livelihoods Project (SSRLP).