Constituencies for the elderly is corruption

The government recently mooted plans and expedited the execution of the same to create five seats in Parliament for elderly persons.
The reasons for these constituencies are numerous, but what stood out was that the elders were under-represented and this had caused them suffering.

While the latter is not true, the former could not be any further away, either.

The seats for the elders, much as they are a special interest group just like the youth, women, workers and others, was not considered as such, thus doing away with the requirement to amend the Constitution, an issue that has been challenged at the East African Court of Justice.

This ‘illegality’ could further drag the country into legal battles and an unnecessary loss of funds accruing from petitions.

The problems of the elderly in Uganda, as is the case in many other places in the developing world, are loneliness as is occasioned by children eventually moving on to live their own lives, lifestyle diseases, an increased financial burden as the elders tend to subsidise or even fully support their children or grandchildren who have not found ways to make ends meet and boredom due to the fact that they are past their active years.

This is something that our government saw through and introduced the Social Assistance Grants for Empowerment (SAGE) programme under the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development in which elders not covered by the national pension scheme can receive a stipend of about Shs25,000 every month.

If an MP for the elderly takes home a conservative Shs25m at the end of the month, at a rate of Shs25,000 per month for the elderly, that is the pay of 1,000 senior citizens.
Now that these are five new MPs, this money could comfortably improve the livelihood of about 5,000 senior citizens.

The Members of Parliament for the elders, like others are entitled to a number of benefits that include medical cover, vehicle and fuel allowances, airtime and data, among others.

If all these are factored in, the money the State will spend on people for whom the best years have already been lived, will be enough to roll out the SAGE programme to the rest of Uganda and over time even improve it beyond the Shs25,000 that we so speak of proudly.

The representation of the elderly, one of the key reasons this constituency is being created, is the most represented segment in government.

Take the executive, for instance, the elders or persons above 65 make up the bulk of the number, most of the ex-officio MPs are also elderly and the same is true for other sectors, is it really justifiable to state that this age group is under-represented?

The special interest groups in Parliament have been a subject of contention for a very long time and attempts have in the past been made to have this provision of the Constitution reviewed.

Maybe this is the time to hold a frank conversation about these positions. With the exception of special interest groups generally being pro-ruling party, what other role have they played towards the betterment of the situations of those they purport to represent?

If our interest is really in helping the elderly, as others have claimed, then the right thing to do is to stock up the health facilities with drugs and other services for all the elderly, so that their lifestyle ailments can be attended to, provide for a meaningful SAGE programme in which our elders age gracefully and ensure that pensions are enhanced for those who earn them.

The issue of patronage for the system faithful will not get us anywhere, eventually we shall have to keep creating more constituencies to provide for those who will have been left out of the windfall.

Ms Cissy N. Kagaba is the executive director of Anti Corruption Coalition Uganda.
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