During this year’s celebration of the International Day of Older Persons, a disheartening revelation was made: the elderly are not getting the support they need. This goes contrary to Rwandan culture where elders occupy an important place in society. They are the bastions of families, caretakers of history; in short, they are living encyclopedias. After spending years helping build their nation, it is only fair that their contribution is recognised and accompanied into old age with dignity. While most of the problems afflicting the elderly is a direct result of the Genocide – where many have no family left to look after them – it does not call for them to be left to their devises, to be abandoned by society. For long there has been talk of special social protection programmes to make their lives easier, but all that is still on paper. There is a glaring lack of urgency to help them with their burdens. One programme that has never left the drawing board was to harmonise pension benefits with the current cost of living. That has been lying on Rwanda Social Security Board’s desk for some time now but with little evidence that it was being treated with the urgency it deserves. It is inconceivable that someone who received Rwf6,000 monthly benefits 20 years ago continues to receive the same amount today. Why can’t RSSB do away with this ridiculous figure that can’t even feed a family for two days, leave alone a whole month? The time to honour, cherish and recognise the older persons’ position in our society is now; otherwise, tomorrow it will be our turn and we will live to regret why we did nothing when we could.
