14 more districts to benefit from SAGE
President Museveni (in cap), Post Bank managing director, Mr Julius Kakeeto (left), the bank's general manager operations, Mr Albert Barekye ( 2nd left) and Gender Minister, Mr Frank Tumbwebaze (right) inspect a Post Bank mobile van used to serve the elderly during Women's Day celebrations at Malukhu grounds, Mbale District recently
At least 53,000 more Ugandans are to benefit from elders' grants after government added 14 districts the Social Assistance Grants for Empowerment (SAGE) programme.
This therefore, means that the number of beneficiaries has increased from 167,000 to 220,000.
President Museveni said in addition to government initiatives like Uganda Women Entrepreneurship Programme (UWEP) intended to economically empower women, his government is assisting older persons in various districts by extending initiatives like SAGE to improve their livelihood.
Mr Museveni while launching SAGE and Women's Day celebrations Malukhu Grounds in Mbale Municipality, also urged men to refrain from beating their wives, citing himself as an example.
“I have been married to Janet for 49 years but I have even never pushed her,” he said.
Mr Julius Kakeeto, the managing director, Post Bank Uganda, which is in charge of disbursing the grants said the programme has been active in 67 districts but with the addition of 14 districts, the figure of beneficiaries now stands at 220,000 people.
“We have been paying 167,000 elderly through our network of 44 branches and mobile vans. With the mobile vans, we can reach parishes and therefore, the elderly do not have to move long distances to find service points for retrieving their funds,” he said.
SAGE was started in 2016 as an initiative to relieve people aged 80 and above, from financial pressures since they are deemed to have low productivity at such an age.
Each person is entitled to Shs25, 000 per month after registering with the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development (MGLSD) and acquiring a valid national identification card.
Mr Kakeeto also added that after the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development(MGLSD) has provided them with data of the beneficiaries, the bank goes ahead to enrol the beneficiaries, capture their photos and biometrics. The process makes it easier to pay money to the right person and avoid fraud related risks.
