Sector consultancy
Kenya replaced its social assistance law in 2025, passed a new disability statute and is building a single registry and a national board to run its transfers. We help government, counties and development partners design, verify and evaluate safety nets and inclusion measures that reach the people the law intends.
The policy environment
Kenya's social protection law changed in 2025. The Social Protection Act, 2025 commenced on 19 August 2025 and repealed the Social Assistance Act, 2013. It establishes a National Board for Social Protection to design, coordinate and deliver non-contributory assistance, a Social Protection Fund under the Public Finance Management Act, and a Social Protection Registry intended as the single database for interventions. Eligible groups include orphans and vulnerable children, poor older persons, persons with disabilities, people in extreme poverty, people affected by shocks and unsupported caregivers, and applicants gain rights of review and appeal. Counties must legislate to implement national policy, allocate resources and keep registries interoperable with the national system. The Board's chairperson was appointed in August 2026.
Delivery runs through the National Safety Net Programme, known as Inua Jamii. It comprises four cash transfers: the Older Persons Cash Transfer, the Cash Transfer for Orphans and Vulnerable Children and the Persons with Severe Disabilities Cash Transfer, which form the Consolidated Cash Transfer Programme under the State Department for Social Protection and Senior Citizen Affairs, and the Hunger Safety Net Programme, run by the National Drought Management Authority. The Enhanced Single Registry is the national targeting system for these programmes. The World Bank-supported Kenya Social and Economic Inclusion Project closed in December 2024; its successor, the Second Kenya Social and Economic Inclusion Project, became effective in February 2026 and finances cash-plus, economic inclusion, registry and shock-responsive components.
The Kenya Social Protection Policy, 2023 organises the sector around income security, social health protection, shock-responsive social protection and complementary programmes. Contributory protection rests on the National Social Security Fund Act, 2013. In February 2023 the Court of Appeal set aside a 2022 judgment that had declared the Act unconstitutional, clearing its phased contribution schedule, and the Fund notified employers of its fourth-year rates in February 2026. The Persons with Disabilities Act, 2025 repealed the 2003 Act, restructured the National Council for Persons with Disabilities and imposes employment, accessibility and procurement duties on both levels of government and on private employers. The National Gender and Equality Commission monitors equality and non-discrimination across special interest groups.
Where the pressure is
Reviewed October 2026. Each pressure traces to a law, a policy or a ruling set out below.
The National Board for Social Protection, the Social Protection Fund and the Registry must be built while transfers continue without interruption. Regulations, county legislation and the transfer of functions from existing directorates will decide whether the new law improves delivery or adds a layer.
The Act requires the Social Protection Registry to update in real time through links to other national registries, and the Enhanced Single Registry already serves as the targeting system. Duplication and exclusion errors are now a legal risk as well as an operational one, because applicants have statutory rights of review and appeal.
The Persons with Disabilities Act, 2025 requires a five per cent employment reservation from employers with twenty or more staff and from both levels of government, and ties building occupation to accessibility standards. Boards and county public service boards need baseline audits, workforce data and accessibility plans.
NSSF notified employers of fourth-year contribution rates in February 2026, and the fifth-year limits will tie contributions to the minimum wage and national average earnings. Employers face rising payroll costs and decisions on contracting Tier II contributions out to approved schemes.
KSEIP2 funds emergency social assistance against drought in northern and north-eastern counties alongside the Hunger Safety Net Programme's shock-responsive component. Trigger design, early warning thresholds and county contingency plans decide how fast support reaches households.
KSEIP2's climate-resilient economic inclusion component and cash-plus programmes shift attention from transfers to outcomes. Government and funders need measurement that shows whether households become more resilient, not only whether payments were made.
Laws, plans and institutions
The Acts and regulations that create obligations, the policies and programmes that set direction, and the institutions that hold the mandate.
Who does what
How the Fourth Schedule of the Constitution of Kenya, 2010 divides the sector between the national government and the 47 county governments.
What we offer
Our practices combine to answer the questions this sector raises. Every assignment is scoped to the institution.
We design and evaluate cash transfer and cash-plus programmes against the Social Protection Act, 2025 and the Kenya Social Protection Policy, 2023, from targeting rules to payment performance and outcomes. Our evaluations give government, counties and partners the evidence to decide what to scale, adjust or stop.
We verify beneficiary registers by triangulating registry records, payment data and household visits to estimate inclusion, exclusion and duplication errors. Findings feed registry clean-up and the review and appeal processes the 2025 Act requires.
We build resilience indicators and M&E systems that track how households absorb and recover from drought, floods and price shocks. Our 2023 Community Resilience M&E and Indicator Verification for Dorcas Aid International applied this approach.
We help public bodies, counties and employers meet the Persons with Disabilities Act, 2025 and the equality standards monitored by the National Gender and Equality Commission, through baseline audits, workforce analysis and compliance plans. Each framework sets measurable targets and a clear reporting line to the board.
Our work in this sector
| Year | Client | Engagement | Practice |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Dorcas Aid International | Community Resilience M&E and Indicator Verification | Resilience M&E |
Key references
Policy environment reviewed October 2026. Laws, regulations and programmes change; consult the official text before relying on any summary here.
Social Protection and Inclusion
Tell us what you need to decide and by when. We will set it against the law, policy and budget realities of the sector and propose the work.