MPs want age of SAGE beneficiaries reduced

The minister of Gender, Labour and Social Development, Betty Amongi has said that the government will assess the financial implication of lowering the age of the Social Assistance Grant Empowerment (SAGE) beneficiaries from 80 years to 70 years.

"We are discussing this and we shall make recommendations to the Cabinet. I want to assure you that affirmative action projects are existent based on clear guidelines. There is no prejudice in respect to access, that is why members have appreciated and made proposals to make sure they are either scaled up or increase in accessibility," she said.

The minister's remarks came shortly after Members of Parliament said that the life expectancy of women in Uganda is low hence calling for reduction of age of SAGE beneficiaries.

The report of the committee on Equal Opportunities on the state of equal opportunities that was adopted by MPs recommended affirmative action for women by reducing the age of the beneficiaries of SAGE from 80 years to 65 years.

The committee chairperson, Judith Alyek said that women age faster than men due to hard work as well as effects of childbearing.

"There should be an annual increment to the monthly payment of Shs25,000 by at least 10 per cent due to inflation rate. Evidence from the SAGE pilot shows that even such small payments, if made regularly, make a huge difference to the lives of poor and vulnerable individuals and families," Alyek said.

Oyam district Woman MP, Santa Alum said that women can only benefit from the SAGE when the age is lowered.

"When you look for women who are 80 years old, you will not find them. If this age could be reduced to 65, many women will benefit," she said.

The committee recommended that the Ministry of Public Service should ensure every public office has sign language interpreters arguing that other people with disabilities miss out on services due to communication challenges.

The report also observed that whereas the government started the student’s loan scheme to increase access to higher education, there is no regional balance in the awards of the loans, especially for Northern, Eastern and Karamoja with the lowest number of beneficiaries.

"Students loan scheme should be made accessible to all students that intend to borrow the fund for further studies and more information about the loan scheme be given to the public to enable accessibility," Alyek said.