By The government has announced major reforms aimed at expanding access to social protection programmes for older persons, including lowering the eligibility age for the Senior Citizens Grant (SAGE) from 80 to 65 years starting in the 2026/2027 financial year.
The announcement was made on Thursday by Minister of State for Elderly Affairs, Hon. Gidudu Mafwabi Dominic, while addressing journalists at the Uganda Media Centre. He said Cabinet had approved the move as part of efforts to enhance income security and improve the welfare of older persons.
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According to Hon. Gidudu, lowering the age threshold will see the number of beneficiaries rise to more than one million senior citizens. To implement the change, government will inject an additional Shs252.16 billion into the programme, raising its total budget to Shs373.36 billion in the next financial year.
He said the SAGE programme introduced in 2010 and rolled out nationally in 2020 has already changed lives through improved nutrition, health access, savings, and household productivity. Currently, 306,759 older persons receive the monthly Shs25,000 stipend, paid quarterly.
The minister also announced that government will clear Shs20.6 billion in accumulated SAGE arrears this financial year. In addition, Shs5 billion will be allocated to close funding gaps under the Special Enterprise Grant for Older Persons (SEGOP), a programme targeting people aged 60–79 in groups for enterprise support.
Hon. Gidudu noted that SEGOP has already benefited 13,449 older persons across 181 local governments, while other initiatives such as cash support for elderly refugees and inclusion in the Parish Development Model continue to widen the social protection net.
He urged older persons to ensure they obtain national identity cards, saying access to grants requires a National Identification Number for bank account opening.
The minister reaffirmed government’s commitment to strengthening livelihoods for vulnerable groups and said ongoing work includes strategies to support informal sector workers to join saving schemes.
He further encouraged older persons to maintain peaceful homes and actively participate in government programmes that contribute to national development under NDP IV and Vision 2040.
“Economic empowerment must go alongside a peaceful and secure environment,” he said.
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