THE government has started sending money to poor families directly via the recipients’ mobile phones, through the recently introduced electronic cash transfer, targeting to reach 1.2 million households.
Other beneficiary families, according to the TASAF Acting Research and Development Specialist, Ms Tumpe Mnyawami Lukongo, received money in Kinondoni, Temeke and Ilala districts of Dar es Salaam City, through the disbursement that have been rolling out in the last eight months.
“We initially targeted 100,000 households in the pilot programme, covering the 16 precincts, but only managed to link 34,511 families in the new TASAF electronic money disbursement network,” said Ms Lukongo, adding that this was 42 per cent of the previously set target.
It was explained that the slow rolling out of electronic payment is attributed to the fact that many poor households do not have mobile phone handsets and also, a number of beneficiaries, being aged persons, suffer poor eyesight and can’t handle the tiny screens.
“There are also people who are illiterate and may not be able to follow the process!” Decision to wire cash to beneficiaries directly into their mobile phones, replaces the current arrangement in which they were compelled to queue up at their respective ward or village offices for cash.
The Ministry of State, President’s Office, Public Service Management and Good Governance, previously stated that the Tanzania Social Action Fund to the poor households was going to be the way forward as far as the Fund’s Productive Social Safety Nets (PSSN) poverty alleviating strategies was concerned
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