Why it is time to increase the SAGE cash for the elderly
Yuventino Elitu sits in the doorway of his two-roomed house built using the monthly stipend. PHOTOS/ BILL OKETCH
What you need to know:
Inadequate care for older people is a growing concern across much of sub-Saharan Africa. In Uganda, the implementation of the Senior Citizens Grant (SCG), a component of the Social Assistance Grants for Empowerment (SAGE) program, commenced in the 2019/2020 financial year. Every quarter, when the funds are sent to the districts, local council leaders, parish chiefs, and town agents move through communities, informing the elderly of the availability of the funds and where beneficiaries can collect them. However, concerns have been raised about the meagre funds which cannot meet the current cost of living, as Bill Oketch reports.
A frail-looking Yuventino Elitu uses his buttocks as leverage, pushing his body forward inside the tiny room. His legs are paralysed and he cannot walk. A wooden window on the right side of the two-roomed semi-permanent structure carries his name, written in white chalk. The structure is in Gorogoro B Cell, Northern Ward in Dokolo Town Council. “I have been indoors for the last three days. In those days, I have not tasted food because I do not have an appetite. I have malaria and I am on treatment,” he says. Elitu’s house has neither electricity nor a nearby sanitation facility. But he is proud of the structure. He constructed it using the money he received from the Senior Citizens Grant (SCG). SCG is a social protection program that provides monthly payments to older persons. It is designed to reduce old-age poverty by providing a minimum level of income security.
The Ministry of Gender, Labour, and Social Development implements the programme. Initially, the programme covered persons of 65 years and above but it was changed to 80 years in 2019, following Parliament’s recommendation for the programme to be extended to all districts. Like other senior citizens of 80 years and above in Dokolo district, Elitu receives Shs75,000 every quarter (Shs25,000 per month) to help him purchase the basics of life. “I started receiving this money in 2023. Every three months, I hire people to carry me on a bodaboda to Dokolo Town Council to collect the money. Nowadays, though, the Shs75,000 cannot last two days because of the high cost of living,” he says. By law, the oldest 100 people in every sub-county across the country are eligible for a government stipend every month. But the funds are distributed disproportionately.
Eighty-seven-year-old Pius Eruju receives the stipend but his wife, Margaret Ayibo, 85, does not. The couple are residents of Gorogoro A Cell, Northern Ward in Dokolo Town Council. “My wife is 85. However, on her identity card, the date of birth is 1948, which means her official age is 77. This error makes her too young to benefit from the programme,” he explains. The situation is not the same in the Karamoja sub-region where anyone above 60 years is eligible. Nonetheless, Eruju, who was enrolled in the program in 2022, has bought a sheep and a goat using the money he obtained. “Food, bedding, and medical care are some of the major challenges we face now because we do not have an alternative source of income apart from relying on the stipend,” Ayibo says.
Structural challenges
However, some beneficiaries are concerned about the mode of payment, saying it is unfair to ask the elderly to travel long distances to access payments when their transport costs are higher than the money they receive. When the money is sent to the district, the community development officer sends messages across the district through the parish chiefs. If the town agents or parish chiefs are unable to mobilise older persons to collect their pay, LCI chairpersons are assigned to take on the mobilisation activity. David Livingstone Okwir, another beneficiary from Akuki Village, Abela Parish, Aleka sub-county in Oyam District, says the suffering brought about by bureaucracy, travel costs, and journey durations has not spared the program’s beneficiaries. “They can tell you to collect the money at around 9 a.m. but you end up receiving it at around 5 p.m. or 6 p.m. By that time, you are hungry and exhausted. Even if you are admitted to the hospital in critical condition, they do not allow your relatives to collect the money on your behalf.
This picture taken on April 25, 2025 shows Pius Eruju, 87, watering animals he bought using the money from the Senior Citizens Grant under the Social Assistance Grant for Empowerment (SAGE) initiative
All the beneficiaries must be physically present at the service point,” he says. When a beneficiary dies at the time when they are supposed to collect the stipend, the deceased’s family is not given anything. While appreciating the intervention, Rose Erem, the chairperson of Dokolo Town Council in Dokolo district, suggests that the money should be paid monthly, instead of quarterly, to enable the beneficiaries to reduce the burden of borrowing money to survive. “We are appealing to the government to increase this money from Shs25,000 to, at least, Shs100,000 per month. What the older persons are currently receiving cannot allow them to access necessities,” she says. Dr Samuel Opio Acuti, the Member of Parliament for Kole North in Kole district, concurs with the belief that older persons are not receiving the care they need. “The Shs25,000 monthly assistant grant was approved in 2020. However, since then, the cost of living has risen including basic needs such as food.
The government needs to revise this figure at least every two years to match the cost of living,” he advises. Christine Anono, Lira district’s community development officer, acknowledges that the problem with affordable care is accessibility. She says some potential beneficiaries did not register but when payments are being made, all those who are 80 years and above appear. “Some of them even want to cry; they want to be paid, but they are not on the payroll. The anomalies that happened during the registration exercise have affected the implementation of the program in the Lango sub-region,” she says. Anono explains that several potential beneficiaries were under-registered. In some cases, an 86 years old carries a national identity card indicating that she is 56 years old. Sometimes the age of the person in the national identity card lower than that of their children. “Then, there is the high death rate because the target age of 80 years and above is too high. Due to the living conditions, not many people live to see that age.
This makes implementation difficult,” she adds. However, Richard Cox Okello Orik, the LC5 chairperson for Lira district, says his administration is committed to ensuring that the initiative is successful. He says the leaders and beneficiaries are happy with the program which is meeting their needs. “However, I have one request to make. I know the age of the beneficiaries was changed from 65 years to 80 and above and very few people can make 80. I wish the Cabinet would consider revising the age [of the beneficiaries] from 80 years downwards so that more people can benefit,” he says. As of November 2021, at least 3,452 older persons were assessed but at the end of the exercise, only 2,220 were paid, according to data from the Community Department of Lira district. More support to the district for the older persons is the sector grant that comes to the department. “However, when you work on the percentage which is supposed to be allocated to the older persons, it comes down to Shs3 million for the entire financial year.
That can only support their council meetings. We cannot support any other activity for the older persons in the district,” Anono explains. Older persons make five percent of Uganda’s population, representing 2.3 million people, of whom 56 percent are women and 43 percent are men. Of these, one in eight have a profound disability and 10.7 percent live alone. Additionally, 17 percent of households are headed by older persons, with 72 percent of them caring for children, according to the Initiative for Social and Economic Rights (ISER). This not-for-profit, human rights non-governmental organisation says old age risks affect men and women differently, highlighting that 63.2 percent of older persons are widows, while only 15.3 percent are widowers. “Older widows are often left helpless, stripped of their property by their late husbands’ families. Nearly half (48 percent) of older persons above 65 live in multidimensional poverty, unable to meet their essential needs such as food and medication. This is compounded by the low coverage of social security where only 2.3 percent of older persons receive a pension,” read the organisation’s manifesto on social protection for older persons.
Broken family ties The number of persons in the country aged 60 years and above is projected to rise from 2.3 million individuals to six million in the next 30 years. There are several challenges facing the current generation of older people, the majority of whom live in rural areas. These include widespread illiteracy, landlessness, food insecurity, poor health, and neglect and abuse by younger generations. The weakening of traditional family ties in northern Uganda has highlighted some significant failings in the support given to vulnerable people who have been affected by years of instability in the region. Younger and able-bodied members of society, like 24-year-old Jimmy Opio, a war survivor, who might have helped in the past say they have problems of their own. “You should not expect a young person like me, who is heading a family after losing his parents to the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebellion, to look after the elderly.
Yuventino Elitu and wife Martina Aturo rest inside a two-roomed house built using SAGE money on April 25, 2025.
How can one vulnerable person look after another? I have got a lot to do, such as educating my sisters and brothers orphaned by the conflict and providing for their basic needs,” he states. Some clans are making an effort, at the local level, to educate people about the importance of not neglecting the elderly. It is not just the elderly who are abandoned by their families, though. The terminally ill and those who lost relatives to the conflict also find that they have no one to turn to. Some are rejected by their families after they test positive for HIV. Betty Amongi, the Minister of Gender, Labour, and Social Development, explains that the government is implementing programs such as SAGE and Special Enterprise Grant for Older Persons (SEGOP) with the target of improving the socio-economic status of older persons and their families. Under SEGOP, which targets persons within the age bracket of 60 and 79 years, the ministry has so far disbursed funds to 1,398 groups in the last two financial years.
“This enterprise fund has provided older persons with startup capital to engage in age-friendly income-generating activities. It is my hope, therefore, that leaders of the older persons are monitoring and ensuring that the beneficiaries of the grant use it to improve their lives,” the minister says. Amongi further says that under the Parish Development Model (PDM), the government has allocated 10 percent of the funds for older persons, which she urges the targeted beneficiaries to take up to improve their economic status. “The government, through the National Identification Registration Authority (NIRA), is currently conducting mass registration for the National Identity cards and it is important that leaders mobilise older persons to participate [in the exercise],” she adds. As of June 2024, the SCG has benefited over 304,000 older persons, providing a vital social safety net.
Additionally, the National Special Grant (NSG), which supports persons with disabilities, has reached thousands more, improving livelihoods and fostering resilience. “However, despite the positive impact of these programs, there remains a significant gap in public understanding and awareness of social protection. This is where your role as a media professional becomes crucial. By enhancing your understanding of social protection, we hope to foster a media environment that supports and advocates for the vulnerable populations in our society,” Amongi adds. Regardless of a significant decline in physical and mental capacity, older persons continue to have aspirations for well-being and respect. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), long-term care systems enable them to receive the care and support that allows them to live a life consistent with their basic rights, fundamental freedoms, and human dignity.
