Kenya’s ‘Universal’ social pension: The politics of registration in Marsabit County

Porisky, Alesha; Mohamed, Tahira Shariff; Muthui, Patrick Mutinda

doi:10.1016/j.worlddev.2022.106164

Cited by 3 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 45 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…While there are clear benefits to the shift to universal versus targeted benefits, such a shift does not automatically guarantee access for all. Marginalised populations, including the extremely poor and pastoral populations, are less likely to be able to access the social assistance benefits conferred by the state (Porisky et al, 2023).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The timing behind the launch of and registration for the social pension coincided with the 2017 electoral campaign period, which raised concerns that the timing of program registration was part of the incumbent government's political agenda, aimed at amassing popular support prior to the contested national elections (Porisky et al, 2023). These concerns are embedded within the broader debates on the distributional politics of cash transfers in Kenya.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Since that time, cash transfers have become a central focus of government social policy in Kenya (Ouma & Adésínà, 2019;Ouma, 2020;Opalo, 2021;Porisky, 2022). In addition to the nationwide expansion of its povertytargeted cash transfer programs supporting orphans and vulnerable children, persons with severe disabilities and older persons, in 2017 the government launched the Inua Jamii Senior Citizens' Scheme which provides a bi-monthly stipend to non-pensioned citizens aged 70 and above and which will over time replace the Older Persons Cash Transfer (OPCT) program (Porisky et al, 2023). 1 The timing behind the launch of and registration for the social pension coincided with the 2017 electoral campaign period, which raised concerns that the timing of program registration was part of the incumbent government's political agenda, aimed at amassing popular support prior to the contested national elections (Porisky et al, 2023).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Cash transfers after electoral violence: A case study of citizen‐state relations in Nakuru, Kenya

Porisky,

Odoo Juma

2023

Soc Policy Adm

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This paper examines the impacts of three cash transfer programs, one for orphans and vulnerable children (CT‐OVC), one for older persons (OPCT) and a universal social pension (Inua Jamii Senior Citizens' Scheme), for citizen‐state relations in areas of Kenya that experienced high levels of electoral violence in 2007. Drawing on 40 interviews with civil servants and community leaders and 16 focus group discussions with both beneficiaries and non‐beneficiaries of the cash transfer programs conducted across two sub‐counties in Nakuru, this paper argues that the central state, in the wake of post‐electoral violence, effectively mobilised state power to make and enforce geographic targeting decisions down to the village level in an effort to mitigate ethnic tensions and strengthen citizen‐state relations. The paper further argues that the success of such localised distribution in strengthening citizen‐state relations has been limited due to incomplete program coverage, limited information about targeting procedures, and citizens' prior experiences with the state which collectively undermine citizens' perceptions of inclusion and exclusion at the local level. These findings are brought into conversation with other research on cash transfers and citizenship across Kenya to parse out the ways in which the impacts of cash transfer programs for citizen‐state relations are mediated by state infrastructural power, citizens' prior experiences with the state, and key aspects of program design. The paper also examines the implications of these findings for other countries across Africa that have experienced generalised electoral violence.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%