Fact Checker: Elderly make up less than 5 per cent of Kenya’s population, Gen (Rtd) Karangi

Frankline Sunday NSSF Board of Trustees Chairman Gen (Rtd) Julius Karangi (left) and Safaricom Chief Enterprise Business Officer,Rita Okuthe (right) peruse through the NSSF digital payment platform with Mary Migot during its launch. [Wilberforce Okwiri, Standard]

What is the rate of poverty among the elderly in Kenya? Last week the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) launched a partnership with Safaricom allowing pensioners to make transactions via their mobile phones. NSSF Board Chairman Gen (Rtd) Julius Karangi said this would help in boosting enrollment to the State pension fund, particularly among Kenyans in the informal sector. “Kenya is
among the countries that are known to have the highest post-retirement poverty rate globally,” said Gen (Rtd) Karangi adding that the country’s old age dependency and elderly poverty ratio currently stands at 50 per cent. This means for every elderly person with a pension support system, another one is left to fend for themselves. The UN estimates that the number of Kenyans aged 60 and above stood at 2.1 million as of 2017, with the number expected to climb to 10.1 million by 2050. SEE ALSO :Tax exemptions do not add value to the economy CS Munya
At the same time, 24 and 22 per cent of males and females over the age of 60 reportedly live alone or with a spouse, while 43 and 57 per cent respectively live with children.  While this does not paint a clear enough picture of the dependency levels among the elderly, another study by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, (KNBS), the World Bank and the UN found that poverty levels across rural, urban and peri-urban areas increase along the age curve. The study found that 36 per cent (1.4 million) of people aged between 60 and 69 live in poverty while 39 per cent (1.1million) of those above the age of 70 is classified as poor. At the same time, households headed by persons 60 years and older recorded a high poverty rate of 36 per cent while contributed a high share of 22.9 per cent of the country’s overall poor. NSSF’s claim that 50 per cent of elderly people are in poverty is thus exaggerated. However, with the number of Kenyans engaged in active employment estimated at more than 15 million and only 2.7 million of them under the State pension fund, the country is staring down a pension time-bomb that will create a crisis in years to come. A study by Strathmore University titled Enwealth Financial Services and Human Resource Management released last year found 86 per cent of Kenyans are at risk of sinking into poverty upon retirement. SEE ALSO :Ombudsman's record of settling cases a mixed bag of fortunes