HakiPensheni

Revise pension rates, government advised

By Correspondent

16th April 2012

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The government has been asked to revise pensions paid to retired people to at least 40 per cent of the amount they receive, when reaching the retirement age.

The call to that end was made at the weekend by Secretary of Retirees in the region, John Kanyetto, in a briefing on the problems they face to Social Security Regulatory Authority (SSRA) director-general Irene Isaka.

He said that pension rates paid to retirees in the country were too low and that the were against international covenants under the International Labour Organisation (ILO), which stipulates that the minimum pension payment should be 40 per cent of the salary of a retiree.

Kanyetto blamed the government over failure to increase pensions. “How come other workers have their salaries increased, while our pensions are not? Just imagine, someone was a regional administrative secretary receiving 50,000/- a month," he said.

He said worse was the fact that some retirees who died even before they started receiving their pensions.

For his part, SSRA DG said she has received many complaints from retirees over delays of pensions from the different social security funds to which they channeled their contributions.

Isaka said that starting this week, a team would consult social security funds to establish the status of affair pertaining to the retirees. She said that the Authority would also evaluate the levels of pensions paid whether they reflected the ranks they held at the time of retiring.

She also said that the team would also study the 1974 and 1978 laws which retirees complained that were being violated.

For her part, SSRA director of communications Sara Msika said that the Authority was planning to conduct special campaign to educate retirees on retirement affairs.

SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN