About 1 month ago the government announced a 'welfare package' that would cushion vulnerable Kenyans as CV-19 crisis deepened.

The Media reports suggested the money was JUST ABOUT TO BE RELEASED.

There's a WORLD of difference btn announcing and DOING

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The welfare package as announced by the government was supposed to be effected through a cash transfer.

The elderly, poor, and persons living with disabilities were supposed to receive somewhere between 2,000 and 8,000.

We wanted to find out how long will it take for the money to REACH the people.

So we embedded our team of community journalists in informal settlements of Nairobi to report on the 'welfare package' in action.

This is what we found out.

Samuel Musembi Mutuku is 22-years-old, born deaf, and dumb and is mentally disabled. Since he can’t work, his mother, Jane Ndida sells vegetables to fend for the family.

Jane says they have registered so many times with the government, but the name keeps missing every time she goes to check. The family has not received any cash transfer from the government.

Going to government offices has been a fulltime job she says, looking for help to raise Samuel and his siblings divert her attention from her grocery business.

Purity Mwikali 12 autism,

Purity is a firstborn in a family of 3 and a student at Our Lady of Nazareth. She is being taken care of by her mother, Catherine Nduki, who stopped her small scale business due to lack of capital.

Catherine says, hers is a fulltime job, taking care of her special needs child and she has never found time to go to government offices. "they will not understand me and they cant help me," she says.

Joshua Mwendwa 21 yrs old Spina Bifida

I just finished a short course on Entrepreneurship and at present I have no work. I depend on my parents and both are currently not working due to Covid-19. I have not received any money from the government.

The Hassan family has several special needs people living in one house. Said Hassan the 1st born in a family of 3, was born with leg length discrepancy which usually costs ksh. 2000 for check-ups after every 3 months

His younger sister, Samia Hassan, was born deaf and is currently living with her grandmother after the partial lockdown. The last born, Muhiraj Hassan, 10yrs old, has a poor memory and usually need 4000ksh for checkups and drugs.

They all live with their mother who is unemployed but depends on their father who works in Bomet. They have applied for the cash transfer but haven’t received any money.

Peter Kilonzo Muasya -33yrs old, Secretary General of PWDs Embakasi South.

"We are helping PWDs register for the cash transfer so as to get help from the government. So far, very few have received help."

George Gatitu 35 years, deaf.

George relies on menial jobs, which earn him 300-400 daily. He registered for cash transfer but hasn’t received any money. "Government officers think they know more about us than we do, we are not stupid," he says

Yuda Okemwa- 34yrs, deaf.

He lives with his 3 children who fully depend on him. He lost his tout job due to corona and Is currently unemployed. He registered for the cash transfer but hasn’t received any money yet. "I, like any other man just want to feed my family," he says

AdanKheri Tache, 54, Deaf

I am cobbler by profession, I can mend your shoes really good that I hear from my customers.

"I don’t know what government looks like, to be honest, I have never seen it in my life." He says he is registered in the many government programs but getting help has been impossible.

Adan Ibrahim.

The parents of 5-year-old Adan say they don’t know how to help their special needs child.

“He loves to dance and enjoys football,” the father tells me, but he can’t help himself and I see how he gets frustrated all the time.

“Children his age have grown and go out to play, Adan will only be seated here where you have left him, I am frustrated.” the father says.

Theirs is a portrait of the disconnect of families with special needs and government pronouncements and policies. "We don't know how to help our child to be whoever he wants to be" the father keeps saying

Benson Kyalo- 28

I try not to let my disability stop me from my ambitions and feeding my family. Whatever my idea is to make it work here in Mukuru, my small shop could bring profits of 1,000 a week, at the moment it is reduced.

My disability is not considered by the Kenyan government severe, so I don’t get help, if there’s any, from many initiatives. I learned when I was growing up to have a strong will and try to make it on my own.

"My assumption is that the government doesn’t care about me."

Daniel Shisia is 33 yr, Program officer at Albinism Society of Kenya.

Persons living with albinism have been demoralized, discriminated, and associated with the CV-19 virus because of our color.

"We haven’t received any support from the government and even the hospitals that provide free sunscreens to persons with disabilities are neglecting them due to corona."

Here's what we learned from the ground.

1. Government announcements are just that announcements, the mechanics of how those policies are actualized are nothing to what MEDIA REPORTS.

2. State officials need to be more on the ground and connected. Most can't relate to people

3. There's an exhaustion of DATA COLLECTION on the ground. Every government department, development partner has been collecting data over and over again. PEOPLE ARE TIRED!

Here's Peter Muasya's number 0725 216814 if you need to reach and help anyone we have highlighted on this thread.