FINAL REPORT - FSD Kenya

cheap (as there are no charges to the recipient) and accessible as it operates within the community. The
services of Hawillat are personalized as one is informed through phone calls of the presence of money.
The only shortcoming of the Hawillat system is that it relies totally on telephone connectivity which is
missing in most parts of Garissa. Balambala for example has neither a telephone connectivity nor
electricity and cannot therefore benefit from this system.
ii. Buses, Matatus and Landrovers
Buses, matatus and Land-rovers plying both the Nairobi-Garissa Route and Garissa Balambala route are
the next commonly used method of money transfer in Garissa after the Hawillat system. “Money can be
sealed in an envelope and given to a passenger going or coming from Garissa using the vehicles plying in the route”.
Respondents consider it to be safe, low-cost and reliable as
money is given to those that are trusted and have been used for a
long time. Matatus and Land-rovers are the only means of money
transfer between Garissa and Balambala as the Post Office
branch that used to be in Balambala closed its offices two years
ago leaving in place no formal means of money transfer. Matatus
tend to be regular only during dry seasons but not when the roads are cut off by floods. Such money is
put in envelopes and sent through buses, and Matatu drivers or conductors and picked by recipients
from Garissa.
iii. Commercial banks
A few of the respondents, know about commercial banks as a means of money transfer, especially to
pay school fees, but have never used them. They talk about the
presence of Kenya Commercial Bank, Barclays Bank and Post Bank in
Garissa and safety of money when one saves with them but report that
these institutions have too many bureaucratic procedures, or as they
say “Going around in circles”, when one wants services. There are however
no commercial banks in remote parts of Garissa as respondents were
unaware their presence.
iv. Post Office
A few of the respondents especially in remote areas such as Balambala used to send or receive money
through the Post Office before it closed its branch. They report that while it operated, it was affordable
and secure. In Garissa town, the Post Office did not come out as a significant provider of money
transfer services.
v. School Accounts
This is an innovation among certain residents of Balambala. Since they have very few options for
money transfers, they have agreed with the Balambala Primary School Committee to allow senders of
money to deposit money directly into school account which is then withdrawn by the school
committee and passed on to them.
vi. Garissa District Children’s Officer (DCO)
Many of the respondents have never received cash from outside except the OVC money that comes
from the Government. Some of them especially the ones in Garissa town would prefer to receive any
other money through the same office due to proximity and reduced risks of highway robbery as the
cash get escorted by armed forces.
vii. Hand Delivery
A few of the respondents get cash delivered by
hand but this did not come out as a very common
method. It is sometimes be used to complement
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“Vehicles are fastest method we
know that can be used to transfer
money. We do not operate bank
accounts” ~ A respondent in
Balambala
“I trust KCB because unlike
person to person it is more
reliable and I can claim in
case of loss” ~ a respondent
in Iftin
“Mostly we use person to person method…we
enclose money in an envelope and give it to a
messenger to deliver it to the intended person in
Garissa...and the one in Garissa does the same”