By Ben Musanje
Uganda will need Shs373 billion to extend the Senior Citizens Grant to more than one million older persons aged 65 years and above, according to the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development, as government struggles to find funding to implement a decision to lower the eligibility age.
The Social Assistance Grant for Empowerment (SAGE), currently restricted to older persons aged 80 years and above, reaches about 310,000 elderly people across the country. Government has already approved a plan to gradually lower the eligibility age to 65, but the money required to implement the decision was not included in the 2026/27 national budget.
Sight Akatukunda, Senior Programme Officer for Communication and Advocacy at the Expanding Social Protection Programme in the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development and spokesperson for SAGE, said the number of older people who would benefit increases sharply as the eligibility age is reduced.
“At 80 years and above, we are currently reaching about 310,000 older persons,” Akatukunda said in an interview at the SAGE head offices along Kyandondo Road in Kampala.
“If we reduce to 65 years, we would need Shs373 billion to reach over one million people.”
The figures come as Uganda joins the rest of the world to commemorate World Senior Citizens Day on Friday, August 21, 2026, putting the welfare of the country’s growing elderly population back into focus.
Number of elderly beneficiaries would rise sharply
Under SAGE, each eligible older person receives Shs25,000 per month, although payments are made every three months. This means a beneficiary receives Shs75,000 per quarter.
The programme currently has about 310,000 beneficiaries aged 80 years and above.
However, ministry projections show that lowering the eligibility age would significantly increase the number of elderly people covered and, consequently, the amount of money government would have to commit.
If the eligibility age is reduced from 80 to 75 years, the programme would reach more than 500,000 older persons and require an additional Shs192 billion on top of the current allocation.
If the age is lowered further to 70 years, the total funding requirement would rise to about Shs278 billion.
At 65 years, the programme would cover more than one million older persons, requiring approximately Shs373 billion.
Akatukunda said the current annual government allocation to SAGE is Shs121.2 billion, which is sufficient for the approximately 310,000 people currently enrolled.
“So now, if we are to reduce the age to 65, first of all, we will be reaching over 500,000 older persons. So, we are going to need another Shs192 billion,” she said.
“If we reduce to 65 years, we would need Shs373 billion to reach over one million people.”
The figures illustrate the financial challenge facing government as it considers widening social protection for older Ugandans.
Cabinet approved reduction to 65
SAGE was introduced in 2010, initially targeting older persons aged 65 years and above, while the eligibility age in Karamoja was 60 years.
The programme was initially rolled out in selected areas before government gradually expanded it. Beginning around 2015, five districts were added at a time until government decided in 2020 to expand SAGE nationwide.
However, maintaining the 65-year threshold during nationwide expansion would have dramatically increased the number of beneficiaries beyond the resources available.
Government therefore set the national eligibility age at 80 years and above for new beneficiaries, while retaining people who had already entered the programme at 65 years when it started.
Akatukunda said the arrangement was intended to allow government to expand coverage gradually as funding became available.
Cabinet later approved a proposal to lower the eligibility age from 80 to 65 years. The decision was expected to begin being implemented in the 2026/27 financial year.
Government had proposed approximately Shs252.6 billion to operationalise the decision during the financial year.
However, the allocation did not materialise in the approved budget.
Akatukunda said the Ministry of Gender continues to engage the Ministry of Finance to find resources that could allow government to begin reducing the age threshold in phases.
She said the absence of funding in the current budget should not be interpreted as abandonment of the Cabinet decision.
Instead, she said, the ministry is using the opportunity to establish more accurately how many older people would be covered at different age levels and how much money would be required.
Elderly people below 80 waiting
The funding gap has left thousands of older people below the age of 80 waiting for government to expand the programme.
Akatukunda said SAGE teams currently in the field paying the quarterly grant are frequently asked by elderly people aged below 80 when they will be enrolled.
“The older persons are asking, those who are not 80 and above, they are asking, when shall we be targeted? When shall we be reached?” she said.
The response from officials, she said, is that they should wait until government secures the necessary funding.
Akatukunda said the ministry already has systems that could support an expanded programme if money becomes available.
The ministry has a Management Information System and uses data from the National Identification and Registration Authority (NIRA) to identify eligible older persons.
“NIRA has everybody that is 65 and above in their system,” she said.
This means government already has a substantial database of elderly people who could potentially qualify if the age threshold is lowered.
Identification remains a challenge
Despite having data on older Ugandans, some elderly people remain excluded even when they meet the current eligibility age.
One challenge is failure to register with NIRA.
Because SAGE relies on NIRA information to identify people aged 80 and above, an elderly person who has never registered cannot easily be identified and enrolled into the programme.
Akatukunda said the ministry is encouraging unregistered older persons to approach NIRA registration centres in their communities.
Physical limitations also prevent some elderly people from registering.
Some are infirm, confined to their homes or lack caregivers who can take them to registration centres.
The ministry had planned a home-enrolment programme in which officials would travel to the homes of elderly people with registration equipment.
However, Akatukunda said the programme currently lacks sufficient logistical capacity to undertake such an exercise on a large scale.
Another proposal is an on-demand registration system, where people who reach the qualifying age would report to district, local government or sub-county offices and request to be enrolled.
The system is still being developed.
Wrong age on IDs leaves elderly out
Another problem is incorrect dates of birth recorded in NIRA databases.
Akatukunda said SAGE officials sometimes meet people who are visibly 80 years or older but whose national identification documents show them as much younger.
For example, an 80-year-old person’s national ID may indicate that they are 50 or 60.
Because SAGE generates its beneficiary lists from NIRA data, such people do not appear among those eligible for the grant.
They must first correct their personal information in the NIRA system.
Akatukunda said the cost of correcting a date of birth can be prohibitive for elderly people who often have limited financial resources.
SAGE strengthens monitoring of beneficiaries
The ministry is also strengthening measures to ensure that grants are only paid to eligible beneficiaries who are still alive.
Local government officials, including parish chiefs and community development officers, help report beneficiaries who have died.
Once a death is confirmed, the beneficiary is removed from the SAGE system and payments are stopped.
The programme has also introduced a proof-of-life verification exercise, which began in June.
Under the exercise, officials recapture photographs of beneficiaries to verify that they are still alive.
Akatukunda said the exercise has already helped identify some beneficiaries who had died but whose deaths had not yet been formally reported.
The ministry intends to conduct the proof-of-life exercise annually.
She said the system will help reduce delays in reporting deaths and prevent other people from continuing to access grants intended for deceased beneficiaries.
Beyond cash transfers
The Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development is also exploring other interventions aimed at improving the welfare of elderly Ugandans.
Akatukunda said the ministry is working with partners on proposals for health insurance arrangements specifically targeting older persons.
She said elderly people are among the most vulnerable groups and may require targeted health protection while the country continues to work towards a comprehensive national health insurance system.
For SAGE, however, the biggest obstacle remains money.
The programme currently supports about 310,000 elderly people aged 80 and above with an annual allocation of Shs121.2 billion.
Reducing the threshold to 75 years would push the number of beneficiaries beyond 500,000 and require an additional Shs192 billion. A reduction to 70 years would require about Shs278 billion, while restoring eligibility to 65 years would cover more than one million older persons and require Shs373 billion.
Akatukunda said the ministry remains hopeful that government will eventually provide the resources needed to implement the Cabinet decision taken in 2025.
She said expanding SAGE to 65 years would significantly widen the social protection net for Uganda’s elderly population, but the expansion must be matched by sustainable financing.
“How we pray that in the short run or medium term, we could see government allocating the funding so that we are able to operationalise the decision that was taken last year in 2025,” she said. (For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [WhatsApp line], 0779411734 & 041 4674611 or email us at mulengeranews@gmail.com).
