This is part of the initiative to ensure that all those registered in fund’s Productive Social Safety Net (PSSN) get payments electronically unlike in the past where they used to get cash disbursements.
The new initiative works in three ways; mobile money transfer, bank accounts and over the counter. Over the counter allow those who are not able to have bank accounts or phones to get payment by fingerprint signals at the bank or mobile money agents.
Speaking here yesterday, TASAF acting Director of Internal Audit, Shedrack Mziray said the aim is to ensure that all beneficiaries countrywide are connected to the electronic payment system in the next 13 months.
He made the statement while officiating at the opening a two-day training on the new payment system for some 134 participants from 31 district councils of accountants, TASAF coordinators, monitoring officers and data entry officials.
The training, he said, was to enable the participants, who are the key players in the beneficiaries’ payment, to understand how it works and the government’s commitment to make the system work better.
He said while there have been some challenges realized during the pilot phases of the electronic payment system in some 16 district councils, the government has made it clear there is no other alternative mode of payment.
“We have to adopt the hard way of implementing the new payment system since there is no alternative,” he said, calling on the participants to take challenges positively and help in finding solutions.
He cited Bahi, Siha and Arusha as some of the councils that experienced challenges with registration into the new system and the ratio of those receiving cash payment is bigger than the electronic payment system.
On the other hand, Mziray expressed disappointment with how some of the officials handle the new technology, saying some district councils are not willing to adopt it.
He said there is a high rate of payment name mismatch due to poor registration by the relevant fund officer. The acting director added that the system is linked to the government electronic payment gateway (GePG) whereby any mismatch of information leads to payment rejection.
The other challenge, he said, is that some of the districts do not have communication networks, making it difficult to effect payments, adding that the government is working hard to change the situation.
Sharing his experience, Bahi District TASAF Coordinator, Joseph Kileo said only 23 percent of the beneficiaries have been registered in the new system due to several challenges.
He said the majority live very deep in the villages where communication is a big challenge while others use different names in various national identification cards.
Jajiel Mahega, TASAF Coordinator in Arusha city noted that despite challenges in the past, they have so far reached 70 percent in enrolment into the new system.
She attributed the success gained to close cooperation among leaders from village, ward, district and regional levels. “It is a strong team work that has made us reach this far and we are determined to attain full enrolment,” she said.
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