Older persons have asked the government to institute a special census to verify the actual number of older persons in the country.
The state minister for elderly persons, Gidudu Mafaabi says the current statistics put the number of older persons in the country at 4% against the total country’s population.
He however says they believe the number of elder persons is more than 2 million as opposed to 1.6m in govt records.
The government with support from development partners (Department for International Development and Irish Aid) implemented the Social Assistance Grants for Empowerment (SAGE) scheme in all the districts with the aim of supporting older persons who are 80 years above with Shs25, 000 per month.
SAGE programme started in 2010 with a pilot scheme covering 15 districts and extended to 20 districts in 2015, targeting 100 older persons per sub-county, but the number of beneficiaries has gradually increased. In April this year, elderly persons benefiting from the SAGE programme in Yumbe district petitioned government to increase the money given to them from Shs25,000 to Shs100,000 to cater for the increasing cost of living.
