At least 63,000 elderly persons are set to miss out on funds given to the elderly monthly under the Social Assistance Grants for Empowerment (SAGE) program.

This has been revealed by the State Minister for the Elderly, Dominic Mafwabi Gidudu while presenting a statement in Parliament on the commemoration of the International Day of Older Persons scheduled for October 1st 2024 at the Liberation Square in Masaka City.  

Gidudu says this has been caused by the cut in SAGE funding by 21 billion shillings in the current financial year 2024/25 budget.

According to the SAGE program, elderly persons aged 80 years and above receive 25,000 shillings every month.

The Ministry of Gender says 302,820 elderly people are currently benefiting in the program of which; 144,406 are female and 114,414 are male.

However in response, Members of Parliament pleaded with the Government to reinstate the budget funds for SAGE and also increase the monthly allocations from shs 25,000 to shs 30,000 per person.

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