This Parliament should move to constitutionalise it. We guard our elders today because we will be elders tomorrow.
I have buried two elders very close to me.
Ssenga Julian Birabwa Muzaaya raised children, paid school fees, and sent many to university. When she fell ill, her daughters nursed her. The men were mostly absent. Apart from me and Cliff Richard Masagazi, the rest only showed up at the burial.
Mzee Lugwire John Nathaniel was cared for by his daughters. They bathed him, turned him in bed, and took him to the toilet. In our customs, that is considered taboo — a daughter seeing her father’s nakedness. Meanwhile, Charles Lugwire was “enjoying the wind in Zambia.”
This is Uganda today: we abandon our elders when they need us most, then arrive in suits and tears at funerals. We wait for people to die, then perform love we did not practice in life.
It has to stop.
The Law We Must Adopt
Uganda needs one clear standard: caring for your parents must be a legal duty, not a moral suggestion.
We can draw lessons from China’s framework and adapt it to our context.
From China’s Elderly Rights Law, Article 18:
Family members who live separately from the elderly shall visit them often. Where the elderly live alone, family members shall attend to their spiritual needs. Employers shall guarantee leave for employees to visit elderly parents.
From China’s Civil Code, Book V:
Article 1042 prohibits maltreatment or discrimination against older persons and protects their lawful rights and interests. Article 1067 places a duty on adult children to support their parents.
China made this binding in 2013. The message is simple: neglect is not bad manners. It is a legal wrong. Parents can sue. Employers must release workers. Society enforces responsibility.
Uganda can adopt this model and strengthen it further.
What We Do in Uganda Is Worse
We constitutionalise tribes and fight over identity, but we do not legislate care for aging parents while they are alive.
Our customs discourage daughters from handling their fathers’ bodies, yet we have no system that ensures sons step in. The result is imbalance: daughters carry the burden, fathers suffer, and sons arrive late — often only for burial.
We spend five million shillings on caskets we cannot afford, but hesitate to send 50,000 shillings for medicine. We deliver speeches at gravesides but failed to make phone calls when it mattered.
That is not love. It is theatre.
What Parliament Must Do: A Ugandan Filial Responsibility Law
- Make care a legal duty
Amend the Children Act and Succession Act to impose a legal obligation on adult children to provide material and emotional support to parents aged 60 and above. Minimum standards for visits and financial support should be defined through local government regulations.
- Introduce enforceable penalties
Classify willful neglect as a misdemeanor. Link compliance to access to public service opportunities, land transactions, and inheritance rights. Those who abandon parents should lose standing in succession disputes.
- Mandate employer responsibility
Require employers to grant paid leave for workers to visit sick or elderly parents. Lack of time must no longer be an excuse for neglect.
- Empower community enforcement
Strengthen the role of local councils, clan structures, and community groups to report, mediate, and publicly discourage neglect. Accountability should begin in the community, not at the graveside.
The Question for Every Ugandan
Why do we only remember our parents when they are dead?
Why do daughters become default caregivers while sons step back?
Why do we spend millions on funerals but fail to invest in care when it is needed?
Ssenga Julian and Mzee Lugwire deserved better. They deserved care, attention, and dignity while they were alive — not flowers after death.
If other countries can legislate responsibility, Uganda can do it too. If we do not, we will continue burying elders alone while pretending we loved them.
Love them while they live. Visit them while they breathe. Support them while they need it.
Anything else is noise.
Honourable Members of Parliament, pass the Filial Responsibility Law. Let Uganda protect its elders before it is too late.