Andrew Bagala
8 August 2007
Munyonyo — ANY Ugandan who was born, raised and has lived in poverty all his or her life will now earn a monthly allowance of Shs18,000 beginning this financial year, Minister Sulaiman Madada announced yesterday.
Another Shs10,000 will be given monthly to families looking after needy orphans and children with disabilities, the minister of state for the elderly and persons with disabilities said in an interview yesterday.
The minister was speaking after the opening of a workshop on "The Comprehensive Planning on Landmine Victim Assistance" in Kampala. Mr Madada said the people to benefit are largely described as the "chronically poor". These include the needy, the elderly, the disabled, and the needy orphans.
"The government is to introduce a cash transfer scheme to the needy and the chronically poor people by giving them Shs18,000 a month," the minister said on the sidelines of the workshop. "On top of that we are also going to give Shs10,000 to families taking care of needy orphans. We already got $4 million from Help the Aged International and other development partners, and we have started a pilot project in six districts including Kiboga District to assess how best we can implement the policy."
According to the 2002 census, Uganda has more than 1.6 million aged people who have reached 60 years and above, and over 2.6 million orphans, most of whom live in absolute poverty. The Word Bank defines poverty in absolute terms. The bank defines extreme poverty as living on less than $1 per day, and moderate poverty as living on less than $2 a day.
Asked to explain the criteria the ministry would use to select potential beneficiaries, Mr Madada said there was a pilot team conducting a study to provide such answers. Statistics obtained from the Uganda Bureau of Statistics would also be useful, the minister said, adding that the project is in line with the government's Social Development Sector Strategic Investment Plan aimed at promoting issues of social protection, gender quality and equity.
On the viability and relevance of the new project, Democratic Party leader Ssebaana Kizito said on phone that he was not very optimistic, citing the failure of previous poverty eradication drives. Mr Ssebaana suggested that corruption would cause the biggest trouble.
"I doubt that the policy will work," he said. "But what I know is that they are going to get money from the Treasury and that will be the end, like it has been with other projects," Mr Ssebaana said. He added that the best way to help the needy is by ensuring employment and training others in modern agricultural methods.
Said the DP leader: "In our society, the elderly depend on the younger ones. But what is happening today in Uganda is that the younger generation, who would have helped the aged, have no jobs and the agriculture they used to rely on doesn't exist.
Handouts can never help the country and the people it is given to. This is a waste of public funds." Monthly allowances or stipends are common in Europe and the United States in form of cash (in the UK) or housing and food stamps (in the U.S.) to the unemployed.
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