Kilifi County government has adopted technology in the distribution of relief food to more than 50,000 vulnerable families.
Governor Amason Kingi (pictured) said the technology donated by Centum Limited will, among other things, help in contacting the affected families with information on when and where to pick their food pack.
Speaking in Malindi where he received food items donated by four salt manufacturing companies, Mr Kingi said the technology will also help in ensuring social distancing measures are met as people will be collecting their packages at different times.
“It will also be easy to account for who has received their food and who hasn’t as the information is automated. We had challenges before as people were being forced to crowd distribution centres,” he added.
Kensalt, Krystalline, Malindi Saltworks and Kurawa Salt donated assorted food stuffs. Centum also donated food enough for 3,000 families.
“Beneficiaries will be required to show the text message sent through the system before receiving their donations. Another SMS will be sent back to central command unit to confirm that food has been released to a beneficiary,” he said. The governor warned the residents against flouting rules set by the national government in efforts to curb the virus from spreading.
"Our biggest strategy against the pandemic is to exercise self-discipline and do what we have been told by the government if we are to win this war,” he added. Adan Mohamed, the county’s chief officer for devolution and leading the distribution exercise said they have uploaded beneficiaries data to the system including name, ID and phone numbers to help in identification.
"From the app, we send a message to the beneficiary; once we send that message, a unique code is generated. Everyone must show the code before being given food,” he said.
