KUWAIT CITY, Jan 14: The Ministry of Social Affairs has set procedures and controls for collecting donations to pay blood money and the associated compensation, in order to organize blood money collection by charities under the umbrella of the Ministry of Social Affairs. In a decision issued by the Minister of Social Affairs, Minister of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs Issa Al-Kandari, Social Affairs Ministry says those authorized to collect blood money are forbidden to collect cash or donations in kind.

The decision stipulates all financial donations must be made using the KNET, the electronic link, or new mechanisms determined by the ministry, provided that the account is programmed not to receive more than the amount specified by the ministry for blood money, noting that in the event the blood money falls short, the money can be received from public benefit societies in coordination with the Ministry, including the payment of debts of Kuwaiti prisons.

The blood money collection is applicable only to those who are convicted inside Kuwait, with the exception of Kuwaitis who are sentenced outside Kuwait, provided that the approval of the authorities and the concerned authorities in the country in which the judgment is issued is obtained, by specifying the party to receive the amount of blood money in an official body. Personal accounts are not accepted.

The decision reviewed the mechanism for submitting blood money collection requests by associations upon the request of the convicted person’s family, for which only one bank account has to be opened with the approval of the Ministry of Social Affairs in a local bank in the name of the charity, provided the account is closed after the specified collection period or the targeted amount has been successfully completed.

The decision prohibits receiving money from abroad except through the banking link to the licensed account. The association can also not take a percentage of the donation