ABSTRACT
The National Council for Persons with Disabilities was set up in December 2004 following the enactment of The Persons with Disabilities Act (PWD) Bill 2003. Part 5 of the People with Disabilities Act, 2003 established the National Development Fund for Persons with Disabilities to provide allowances to persons with severe disabilities or aged persons with disabilities or single parents with children with disabilities and who cannot seek employment. The Overall objective of the program was to enhance the capacities of the caregivers through cash transfers thereby improving the livelihoods of persons with severe disabilities. The purpose of the study was to investigate the effectiveness of disbursement practices of NDFPWD on the standard of living of the disabled in Kenya. This study was based on Public Finance Theory and Resource Based Theory. Explanatory research design was used in this study. The 6 national officers who are representatives of the various categories of disabilities, and 14689 persons with severe disabilities in Kenya who were beneficiaries of the National Development Fund for Persons with Disabilities were targeted. Since the target population was large and not manageable, purposive sampling method was used to select the sample. Questionnaires and document checklist were the data collection instruments. To establish reliability of research instruments the Cronbach’s coefficient alpha model was used and its figure stood at 0.714 showing high reliability. To establish content Validity of the instruments, pilot test was conducted using the instruments to verify their validity. Data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics and thus regression and correlation were captured. The Social Package for Statistical science (SPSS) software aided in data analysis. The results show that low amount and infrequent disbursement (β=.393, t=5.968, p<0.000). Had a significantly negative influence on the standard of living of persons living with disability in Kenya. The study therefore recommends that: National Development Fund management should disburse more funds to the disabled, upwards of Kshs 10,000 to help the disabled improve their standard of living. This disbursement should be done monthly and in accordance to the National Development Fund Act.