37,534 older persons above the age of 80 years will benefit from the Social Assistance Grant for Empowerment (SAGE) funds from the Ankole sub-region in the current financial year, according to figures released by the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development.
Payments of the Senior Citizens Grants to older persons under the Social Assistance Grants for Empowerment (SAGE) programme were on Friday launched in Mbarara by Mr Frank Tumwebaze, the Minister for Gender, Labour and Social Development.
When the roll-out is completed in all the 135 districts in the country, 358,420 older persons will have benefitted.
In this phase, older persons will be taking home Shs 150,000 to cater for all the six months when the country was under lockdown with restrictions imposed to curb the spread of the Corono virus hampering efforts to distribute the money.
Speaking at the launch for the Ankole sub-region at Ruti Rehabilitation Centre in Mbarara City, Mr Tumwebaze said there have been many impacts of this programme at the individual, household and community levels.
“These impacts include improved nutrition, access and uptake of services like health services by older persons and education services among children living with older persons. More importantly, the grants have improved the ability of older persons to deal with economic shocks such as the current Covid-19 lockdown,”Mr Tumwebaze said.
The Minister, however, acknowledged that there are challenges to do with the cut-off age of 80 and the requirement of a National ID.
“I am aware that the cut-off age of 80 years and the use of the national ID are a challenge. About the National ID, there are many older persons who qualify by age but did not register with NIRA and they are therefore not on the NIRA register where they can be picked by SAGE. Then we have those who registered and lost their National IDs. I am acutely aware of these challenges and we are working on a solution, “Mr Tumwebaze said.
Speaking at the launch, Mr John Orach, the Northern Uganda representative to the Elderly Council, said that the government should consider lowering the age of the beneficiaries from 80 to 60, if older persons are to benefit.
“I am sure that the government can squeeze somewhere and ensure that old people who attain the age of 60 can benefit from this Fund, “Mr Orach told the Minister.
Mr Stephen Kasaija, the Head of the Expanding Social Protection (ESP) program, who represented the Permanent Secretary, indicated that the Ministry is preparing a Cabinet White Paper to address the challenges that have been encountered.