Elderly welcome govt cash grant
Sep 29, 2011
ELDERLY Ugandans who are eligible for a monthly stipend under a pilot social scheme say they will be able to meet their basic needs.
By Vision Reporters
ELDERLY Ugandans who are eligible for a monthly stipend under a pilot social scheme say they will be able to meet their basic needs.
The Social Assistance Grants for Empowerment cash transfer scheme will provide sh23,000 per month to the elderly and other vulnerable groups such as child-headed families, single mothers and the disabled.
The scheme worth 40 million pound sterling is implemented by the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development with support from UK Aid, Irish Aid and UNICEF.
It is being piloted for the next five years in 14 districts of Kiboga, Kyankwanzi, Mubende, Kyenjojo, Kyegegwa, Kaberamaido, Katakwi, Kole, Nebbi, Zombo, Nakapiripirit, Moroto, Amudat and Napak.
It will be launched on Saturday during the national celebrations for the International Day of Older Persons in Kyenjojo district. President Yoweri Museveni will be the chief guest.
Immaculate Emorut, 83, a widow and one of the 861 beneficiaries in Kaberamido, said: “With this money, I no longer sleep hungry. I buy fresh cassava and process it into flour.â€
Emorut, a resident of Obur village in Bululu sub-county, said she used to work as a labourer but is now free from the strainous job.
“I use sh5,000 to buy flour which I eat with greens and use the balance to buy soap, salt, sugar and paraffin. This lasts for a month.â€
Eriesa Emoru, 87, also from Kaberamaido, said he spends the money to buy drugs because the nearby health centre sometimes runs out of drugs.
In Kyenjojo district, Joseph Twijukye, 75, a resident of Kisenge parish, said he now affords meat for his household. He said he lacked money to buy food in the past.
Alice Kabagenyi, 69, a resident of Nyaburongo in Kyenjojo, said: “I will save the monthly grant to take care of my grandchildren and emergencies like sickness.â€
Kabagenyi said she can save up to sh10,000 monthly, which she will invest in a piggery and poultry project for her grandchildren.
In Kyenjojo, Jessica Kyobutungi of Bigando said some of the elderly did not register because they were suspicious of the exercise, especially the Bakiga immigrants who thought the district wanted to evict them.
Simon Omoding, the communications manager of the Expanding Social Protection Programme in the gender ministry, said the scheme would cover 600,000 individuals and 95,000 households in the pilot districts.
While the initial sum is sh23,000, beneficiaries will get a 5% increment annually. Cash is delivered monthly to the beneficiaries through a mobile money system established by MTN, a telecommunication company.
Reginald Kafeero, the MTN Uganda general manager for sales and customer services, said they would issue beneficiaries with cards onto which the money will be credited monthly.
Sulaiman Madada, the minister for disability and elderly, said of the 1.4 million elderly people in Uganda, only 7.1 % have worked in the formal sector and thereby access pension.
ELDERLY Ugandans who are eligible for a monthly stipend under a pilot social scheme say they will be able to meet their basic needs.
The Social Assistance Grants for Empowerment cash transfer scheme will provide sh23,000 per month to the elderly and other vulnerable groups such as child-headed families, single mothers and the disabled.
The scheme worth 40 million pound sterling is implemented by the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development with support from UK Aid, Irish Aid and UNICEF.
It is being piloted for the next five years in 14 districts of Kiboga, Kyankwanzi, Mubende, Kyenjojo, Kyegegwa, Kaberamaido, Katakwi, Kole, Nebbi, Zombo, Nakapiripirit, Moroto, Amudat and Napak.
It will be launched on Saturday during the national celebrations for the International Day of Older Persons in Kyenjojo district. President Yoweri Museveni will be the chief guest.
Immaculate Emorut, 83, a widow and one of the 861 beneficiaries in Kaberamido, said: “With this money, I no longer sleep hungry. I buy fresh cassava and process it into flour.â€
Emorut, a resident of Obur village in Bululu sub-county, said she used to work as a labourer but is now free from the strainous job.
“I use sh5,000 to buy flour which I eat with greens and use the balance to buy soap, salt, sugar and paraffin. This lasts for a month.â€
Eriesa Emoru, 87, also from Kaberamaido, said he spends the money to buy drugs because the nearby health centre sometimes runs out of drugs.
In Kyenjojo district, Joseph Twijukye, 75, a resident of Kisenge parish, said he now affords meat for his household. He said he lacked money to buy food in the past.
Alice Kabagenyi, 69, a resident of Nyaburongo in Kyenjojo, said: “I will save the monthly grant to take care of my grandchildren and emergencies like sickness.â€
Kabagenyi said she can save up to sh10,000 monthly, which she will invest in a piggery and poultry project for her grandchildren.
In Kyenjojo, Jessica Kyobutungi of Bigando said some of the elderly did not register because they were suspicious of the exercise, especially the Bakiga immigrants who thought the district wanted to evict them.
Simon Omoding, the communications manager of the Expanding Social Protection Programme in the gender ministry, said the scheme would cover 600,000 individuals and 95,000 households in the pilot districts.
While the initial sum is sh23,000, beneficiaries will get a 5% increment annually. Cash is delivered monthly to the beneficiaries through a mobile money system established by MTN, a telecommunication company.
Reginald Kafeero, the MTN Uganda general manager for sales and customer services, said they would issue beneficiaries with cards onto which the money will be credited monthly.
Sulaiman Madada, the minister for disability and elderly, said of the 1.4 million elderly people in Uganda, only 7.1 % have worked in the formal sector and thereby access pension.