So many of us think of retirement and wonder how we will survive, especially because we don’t have a robust social welfare system that takes care of the elderly.
Apart from the Sh2,000 that is given to the elderly — above 70 years — there is very little help for older people who have worked the whole of their lives to help bring up the younger nation. Interestingly, this is a very pertinent question that needs to be considered since the way we treat the senior citizens has an impact on the development of our country.
Our median age is 20 years, meaning half of our population is below the age of 20. This means we have very few Kenyans above the 70-year threshold. In the traditional setting, older persons were to be found in the villages surrounded by their many grandchildren who would be more than glad to help them out in many household chores, including feeding.
However, with urbanisation, two phenomena have arisen. First, there is increasingly an ageing population residing in the urban settings, with their children living apart from them. They live lonely lives,only having the occasional visit by their children or grandchildren.
On the other hand, those in villages have to visit their children in towns, especially mothers, leaving their husbands alone in a whole compound with nothing much to do for themselves.
At this juncture, gender roles change, with the father who was constantly away from home fending for his family and enjoying city life having to stay at home in an unfamiliar territory. Meanwhile, his wife gets invited to visit the city and even abroad, to go see a newborn named after her or even her husband.
This is a reversal of gender roles and the nature of marriage from the traditional setting to a modern one. Moreover, mothers try to win children to their side as a means of settling scores with their absent husbands. And when they are around, they are always tough and hostile to instil discipline to be seen to be in charge.
Further, a good number of children are brought up by single mothers, hence, they lack proper role models as a point of reference in their marriages on how to treat their fathers in old age.
Many senior citizens die of loneliness and health complications associated with old age since they have limited sources and lack health insurance. Further, they take many years to access a pension, especially those who have worked with ministries and government agencies due to corruption and inefficiency.
One of the things that I have been doing in my office is to help some of them to follow up on their pension, yet it should be automatic upon attainment of retirement age.
One may ask what are the essential things to consider in retirement? To begin with, medical cover for older persons is critical since the body shall be weak at this point in time. NHIF contributions should automatically be paid for every worker as part of the pension scheme so they can access healthcare in retirement.
Secondly, liquidity in terms of regular income is critical. This should cover not only pension which tends to be peanuts but also other sources such as rental income or a stable business. Selling fixed assets like cars and land becomes tempting at this point but this can as well lead to poverty when the monies are gone.
It’s also important to have activities that keep one busy, such as running a small business, volunteering in church, etc. One must also pay off all their loans way in advance. Keeping family close since they are the only ones who will call you as others disappear is very important.
So how does this factor relate to development? Two issues, a healthy population in terms of ensuring universal healthcare by having insurance cover and a functional public healthcare system rather than the current one that is largely privatised.
Secondly, investing in and promoting a saving culture o avail enough resources for big infrastructure projects that are transformational. The Kenya Vision 2030 targets that we should save up to 30 per cent of our money. The Chinese save up to 55 per cent of their earnings, monies that we have borrowed heavily, yet our current savings level stands at a paltry seven per cent.
So if you see a retiree tourist visiting the shores of our coastal sandy beaches for days on end, he could be enjoying his savings that you are servicing as debt of that Eurobond that the govt borrowed for that road or airport that you used on your way to Mombasa.
What if we financed our development through savings rather than borrowing from other people? Wouldn’t this reduce our public debt but also a guarantee a secure future for all us when we hit the retirement age? Why can’t we be the ones that other people borrow from as well?
(Edited by V. Graham)
