CNN journalist Larry Madowo’s documentary is going to be streaming on Netflix.
The former BBC reporters said he has been a part of the project for the last five years.
The documentary details the effects of a US nonprofit ‘GiveDirectly’ which sends money to a village in Nyanza, Kenya, every month to uplift the living standards of the poor in the area.
GiveDirectly claims it allows donors to ”send money directly to people in poverty with no strings attached”.
“We believe people living in poverty deserve the dignity to choose for themselves how best to improve their lives — cash enables that choice,” GiveDirectly explains on its Website.
The documentary, dubbed ‘Free Money’ looks into the psychological effects of converting an entire Kenyan village into dependents of free money every end of the month, and how the phenomenon affects, positively or negatively, the society.
Larry tweeted, “Is it OK for an American NGO to run a cash experiment on poor Africans?”
“Our documentary “Free Money” filmed over 5 years launches on Netflix today! See what happens when everyone in a Kenyan village receives free cash every month.”
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where at least $900,000 (about Sh130 million) was reportedly taken by employees or former employees in a massive scam that permeated every department of the national office, GiveDirectly terminated all of its active operations in June 2023.
Employees of GiveDirectly committed the fraud by taking SIM cards intended for use by low-income households to receive mobile money transfers from the charity organization.
The scam, which began in late August 2022 when the organisation started making cash transfers there, had an effect on more than 1,700 people in the South Kivu province of the DRC.
More Stories
Bipartisan Talks Team Agrees on Three Issues
President Ruto Free to Trademark “Mambo ni Matatu” Phrase
CS Tuya Sues Ex-husband for Sh525,000 in Child Upkeep