Hoima, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Elderly in the Bunyoro sub-region have raised concerns about the difficulties they are enduring while securing loans from financial institutions. They argue that the various money lending institutions and commercial banks have denied them opportunities to access loan services, citing concerns about their …
Read More »Behind Closed Doors: Exposing the invisible scars of financial elder abuse
COMMENT | MAROUSHKA F. KANYWANI | Within the African—and by extension the Ugandan—cultural context, a great deal of honor is conferred on the pillars of our respective families and communities—aunts, uncles, parents, and grandparents, whose love and wisdom are the backbone of our growth and development. Behind closed doors, however, …
Read More »OO stepping down as Govt spokesman, to challenge Gidudu for MP elderly seat
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Ofwono Opondo has confirmed he will step down as Government Spokesman and contest for Member Parliament (MP) for the elderly in the next elections. He intends to take on Dominic Mafwabi Gidudu, MP for the elderly representing Eastern Region, and bragged that “I have what …
Read More »Older Ugandans are unhappy, says new report on happiness
COVER STORY | THE INDEPENDENT | Ugandans aged 60 years and above are the unhappiest segment of our society, according to the latest World Happiness Report. These are people who have lived through all of the country’s tumultuous regimes, from Obote One, Idi Amin, Obote Two, and now President Yoweri Museveni. …
Read More »UGANDA: New study highlights huge burden of Alzheimer’s disease among elderly
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | One in five Ugandans aged 60 and above suffers from Alzheimer’s disease, a new study by researchers at Makerere University’s Department of Psychiatry has revealed. Alzheimer’s disease is a degenerative condition that causes the brain to shrink and brain cells to die, slowly destroying memory …
Read More »Budget cut to severely affect elderly persons under SAGE
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Parliamentary Forum on Social Protection has warned that thousands of older persons benefiting from the Social Assistance Grants for Empowerment – SAGE programme across the country will be severely affected following a significant budget cut. Flavia Kabahenda, the Chairperson of the Forum says that …
Read More »SAGE: Gov’t asks court to dismiss elders case
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Attorney General has asked the High Court in Kampala to dismiss the case in which a group of elderly people sued the government on allegations of excluding them from accessing Social Assistance Grants Empowerment and Public health services due to lack of national …
Read More »Elderly sue gov’t for discrimination over lack of National IDs
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The government has been sued for allegedly excluding elderly people from accessing Social Assistance Grants for Empowerment (SAGE), and public health services among others due to lack of national identification cards. The government was sued together with National Identification and Registration Authority-NIRA, by three Civil …
Read More »Turkey’s aging population dragging economy down
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is an ardent advocate of population increase and has called for families to have more children Ankara, Turkey | Xinhua | As a country that once boasted one of the youngest populations in Europe, Turkey has been aging fast in recent years, which is slowly dragging its …
Read More »SAGE fund: Thousands of elderly can’t access grant due to lack national IDs
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | An estimated 54,559 persons aged 80 years and above cannot access the Social Assistance Grant for Empowerment (SAGE) because they do not have National Identification Cards, according to a survey carried out by the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development. Data from the gender …
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