Kotido SAGE Elders Frustrated by Hours of Delayed Payments

By Richard Onapatum

KOTIDO — Elderly SAGE beneficiaries in Kacheri Town Council were forced to wait for hours on Tuesday, with an unstable banking network and a late start cited as causes of the delays.

The exercise, scheduled for 8 a.m., started at about 10 a.m., according to Auma Florence Toss Oryono, Senior Community Development Officer for Kacheri Town Council.

Toss said some beneficiaries waited for about eight hours to receive their payments after beneficiaries from Kacheri Sub-county were also brought to the town council for payment.

“The network wasn’t stable for the bank and in that, there were a lot of delays,” Toss said.

For Apa Mailem, one of the beneficiaries, the long wait was particularly difficult after travelling a long distance.

“We are too old. We come from far, only to take long hours. We are hungry, and our guardians even just walked away,” Mailem said.

Toss said some beneficiaries arrived without food and had to wait several hours before receiving their grants. She said similar delays affect beneficiaries in Kapeta, where some reportedly wait until about 6 p.m.

“It is very unfair for them,” she said.

The delays come amid longstanding concerns about access to SAGE payments. A government evaluation of the programme has previously identified network problems, late arrival of payment agents and long distances to payment points among factors that can increase waiting times and costs for older beneficiaries.

Toss also raised concerns about relatives who accompany elderly beneficiaries, alleging that some spend part of the grants before leaving the beneficiaries with limited resources.

She called for government support for beneficiaries without responsible family members and urged Centenary Bank to improve its organisation and ensure payment exercises start on time.

“Centenary Bank should always be organized and keep time so that these people are not kept waiting for a long time,” she said.

Jhanan Obong Olum, Manager of Centenary Bank Kotido, said SAGE payments involve several stakeholders and that challenges are addressed by those concerned.

“So much is involved in the SAGE payment and in case there are any challenges it’s raised and attended to by all concerned stakeholders,” Olum said.

He apologised for the inconvenience caused to beneficiaries and pledged to improve future payment exercises.

“Our heartfelt apologies for any inconveniences and we commit to do it better,” he said.

SAGE currently provides eligible older persons with a monthly grant of Shs25,000. Parliament reported last month that 318,649 older persons received the grant during the 2025/26 financial year, while government has disbursed Shs971.98 billion to a cumulative 515,405 beneficiaries since the programme began.

Toss said the Kacheri exercise eventually proceeded without major incidents but called for better coordination among government officials, payment providers and local authorities to ensure SAGE beneficiaries receive their grants promptly and with dignity.

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