Government urged to incentivise services for older citizens

Older Kenyans deserve dignity, affordability and easier access to essential services. [iStockphoto]

The Government has been urged to work with the private sector to introduce incentives and preferential services for older citizens, including discounts on medicines, transport, hospitality and other essential services.

The call emerged from the Association of Former International Civil Servants of Kenya (AFICS-Kenya) national symposium in Nairobi on Thursday, where stakeholders emphasised the need to strengthen systems that they said would improve lives for millions of older people.

AFICS-Kenya president Ambassador John Kakonge said older citizens continue to face challenges accessing essential services, including long queues in banks, hospitals and telecommunications shops, difficulties using public transport and the high cost of medication.

"Our future perspectives already identify the need to work with governments to advocate for age-friendly welfare services, while also emphasising sustained partnerships and intellectual philanthropy," he said.

He said the association wanted industries to introduce measures such as preferential queueing and discounts to make services more accessible to senior citizens.

“Longer lives must also mean better, more dignified and more economically secure lives,” Kakonge said.

"Older citizens are navigating systems that often were not designed with their needs in mind — from long queues in banks, hospitals and telecommunications shops, to difficulties accessing public transport, affordable medicines, essential services or timely justice,' added Kakonge.

The symposium was held under the theme, “Dignity, Mobility and Economic Empowerment: Building an Incentive Framework for Senior Citizens in Kenya.”

Principal Secretary for Social Protection and Senior Citizens Affairs Joseph Motari, who was represented by his Secretary for Social Development Moses Kamau, said the Government was already implementing measures aimed at improving the welfare of older persons,

Motari said the Government had strengthened Kenya’s social protection architecture through the Social Protection Policy 2023, Persons with Disabilities National Policy 2024, Social Protection Act 2025, Persons with Disabilities Act 2025 and Social Protection Regulations 2026.

At the same time, he noted the Government had also drafted the Older Persons Bill, expected to provide a stronger legal and institutional framework for protecting and promoting the rights and welfare of older citizens.

“The Bill seeks to strengthen measures for older persons’ participation, dignity, protection, care, development and empowerment, while providing a framework for coordinated action across Government and other stakeholders,” said Motari.

He said the Social Protection Act provides for social assistance and social care services, including cash transfers, rehabilitation, psychosocial support, respite care, feeding programmes and home-based care.

The law also provides for access to essential drugs, personal care goods and assistive devices for people requiring additional support in their daily lives.

Motari said the Government had expanded the Inua Jamii cash transfer programme from about 1.2 million to 1.7 million beneficiaries, bringing an additional 500,000 vulnerable Kenyans into the programme.

He said more than Sh3.5 billion was being disbursed every month through social protection programmes to support vulnerable Kenyans.

The shift towards mobile money payments, particularly M-Pesa, had also made it easier for beneficiaries to access their entitlements closer to where they live, he said.

According to the PS, the move had reduced the need for older persons, persons with disabilities and other vulnerable beneficiaries to travel long distances or incur unnecessary costs to access their payments.

The Government has also sought to cushion older citizens against healthcare costs under the Social Health Authority (SHA), with Motari saying the benefit package had been expanded to cover areas including dialysis, hypertension, cancer treatment, mental health and diabetes care.

Older persons have also been enrolled in the indigents programme under the Social Health Insurance Fund, he said.

Motari urged stakeholders at the symposium to explore partnerships with the pharmaceutical sector to improve the affordability and accessibility of medicines and health-related products for older persons through discounts, preferential services and other incentives.