KITUO CHA SHERIA BLOG

Kibera Community Justice Center

Serving the most vulnerable persons in the society…

Njoki Nguga, a 67 years old granny from Kibra, Nairobi has a reason to smile after her name got approved as a beneficiary of the Kenyan government’s monthly stipend funds for the elderly.

Njoki, a widow who is staying with two orphaned grandchildren, spends sleepless nights trying to provide for the kids who are all in school. She said for several years she has not benefited from the funds despite her attaining and even surpassing the recommended age (65).  Her National Identification Card had an error, indicating that she was born in 1952 reducing her age by two years by the time she attained 65 years the recommended age for benefiting from older person’s funds, a programme run by the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Development in Kenya. The ministry had failed to enroll her because of this.

Njoki said she was referred to the Kibera Community Justice Centre by a friend who had once gotten assistance at the justice centre. She approached the justice center seeking legal advice regarding her problem. She specifically wanted the paralegals assist her correct the error that has made her miss the monthly stipend that she ought to be getting.

“I had made several attempts to government offices including the DC’s and the Chief’s offices but my efforts bore no fruits. I therefore decided to seek for assistance from the justice center as advised by a friend”, said Njoki.

Ezekiel Njenga, certified Paralegal at Kibera Community Justice Center intervened. He advised the client to first go for age assessment at Mbagathi Hospital and wrote a letter addressed to the relevant institution on behalf of the client recommending for change in the year of birth in the client’s national Identification Card (ID).

The requested process was successful and the client was issued with a new ID card and is currently registered and earning the stipend for the elderly thanks to the work of the community paralegal.

RCKM

Kituo Cha Sheria