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Mbarara City: Elderly decry neglect

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Mbarara City: Elderly decry neglect
Hajjat Fatuma Namutebi

In Mbarara City, a growing number of elderly citizens are grappling with severe hardships, enduring lives filled with hunger, homelessness, and illness.

Rather than enjoying their twilight years in peace, many find themselves fighting for basic survival, relying on the goodwill of others or facing isolation and neglect.

Mary Nalubowa, an 80-year-old woman, has lived a life marked by loss and hardship. Her inability to bear children led to the dissolution of her marriage and ultimately left her homeless.

For years, she has moved from one household to another, seeking refuge wherever she can find it. Now, she stays with a Good Samaritan in a shared home, but her peace is fleeting, as she lives in constant fear of being forced out.

"The house where I was staying previously collapsed, and I have been moving, looking for refuge. Here where I am, my days are numbered," Nalubowa says, her voice tinged with sadness and resignation.

Despite her frailty and declining health, Nalubowa works on plantations to earn a meager living, but even that is not enough to meet her basic needs.

"In the morning, people see me staggering as I look for what can give me 100 shillings, and they ask, ‘Mulokole, are you drunk this early morning?’ The truth is, I am always hungry and weak," she explains.

Her fight for survival is compounded by the lack of essentials—she often goes to bed hungry and struggles to afford water.

"Many times, I sleep hungry because I can’t afford food, and even a jerrycan of water, which has now become my food, is something I can’t afford," she adds, her words heavy with despair.

Gaudensia Kanyana, a 68-year-old woman, shares a similar struggle. She has been ill for years, but financial constraints prevent her from accessing the medical care she needs.

"I have been ill for years now, but when I go to the hospital, I only do checkups because I can’t afford medication," Kanyana reveals.

She feels abandoned not just by the healthcare system but also by her own children, who are unable to support her. "My own children can’t even support me. Their lives have been filled with fate," she says.

For Kanyana, hunger, poverty, and illness have all pushed her to the brink. "Hunger, poverty, and illness have affected me, pushing me to the wall," she adds.

Fatuma Namutebi, a centenarian, faces her own set of challenges.

At 100 years old, Namutebi cares for three grandchildren, yet her struggles are exacerbated by a mistake in her National ID registration.

The ID lists her as younger than she is, which has prevented her from accessing government programs for the elderly.

"When they gave me my National ID, I saw many irregularities. The age they registered was years below what I told them," Namutebi says.

Despite multiple attempts to benefit from government aid for the elderly, she has been denied assistance.

"Every time I presented this National ID, it was not of much help. I even went with it over four times to try and benefit from the money given to elders, but I never received anything. I gave up," she recalls, her voice filled with disappointment.

Now, Namutebi pleads for government support to help her care for her grandchildren and herself in her old age.

"I ask the government to support my grandchildren and me so that I can always help them despite my old age," she says, her voice a mixture of hope and desperation.

Local authorities in Mbarara City are aware of these struggles but admit that existing programs are inadequate to meet the needs of the elderly.

The government programs in place are the Special Grant for the Elderly and Special Enterprise Grant for Older Persons provide critical support however a shelter for the elderly is also needed.

John Sekyanzi, the Deputy Mayor of Mbarara City South Division and a councillor for the elderly, acknowledges the difficulties elderly residents face, noting that there are no specialized programs for them.

"The elderly in Mbarara City are not comfortable because there’s no special treatment or programs for them as aging people," Sekyanzi notes.

He calls on the government to introduce targeted programs to support the elderly, especially as many are unable to access traditional financial services due to their age.

"These people are old and cannot borrow loans from banks because of their age. Maybe some banks think they will die soon and fail to pay back. I don't know," he adds.

Sekyanzi also stresses the need for community action, urging the elderly to take advantage of existing government programs.

"I appeal to the elderly to make groups and embrace the already existing government programs," he suggests.

However, he acknowledges that funding for such initiatives is severely limited.

"As council, there isn’t much money secured for the elderly. With only shs3 million annually from the local government for my division, this is not enough for our activities," he admits.

The plight of the elderly in Mbarara is further exacerbated by rising cases of homelessness caused by domestic violence and property disputes.

Sekyanzi paints a grim picture of this growing problem.

"These days, you find the elderly homeless, chased away from their homes due to domestic violence and greed for their property. I don’t know where this world is going," he laments.

In response to the challenges faced by the elderly, Twinamatsiko Hakim, Assistant RCC of Mbarara City South, urges the youth to embrace government programs that can improve the livelihoods of the elderly and reduce familial conflicts.

"I encourage the youth to embrace government programs like Emyooga so that we can improve the livelihoods of people and reduce the fights in homes with youth chasing away the elderly for their property," Hakim explains.

He also calls on the elderly to engage with programs specifically designed to support them.

"These programs were put in place as a refuge for the elderly, and they should take advantage of them," he adds.

The stories of Mary Nalubowa, Gaudensia Kanyana, and Fatuma Namutebi highlight a pressing need for systemic change in Mbarara City and across Uganda.

Their struggles underscore the urgent need for expanded government support, improved registration systems, and community-driven solutions to ensure the elderly can live their final years with dignity and care.

It is clear that more must be done to address the needs of Mbarara’s aging population, and the time to act is now.

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