Govt official says reform of Tanzania’s welfare laws in the pipeline

Saturday, 09 March 2013 19:24

By Mkinga MkingaThe Citizen Reporter Dar es Salaam. The government is considering amending laws, which establishes social security funds to have two strong pension funds which will cater for both private and public sectors. Responding to a question from this paper after closing the Public Service Pensions Fund annual general meeting, minister for Labour and Employment Gaudentia Kabaka said having two strong social security funds had been the idea of many stakeholders and the government had been digesting it. She said it was not easy to change all mechanisms, which enabled the pension funds since they had been established by different laws. “The government will take it to the Parliament when time allows,” she said. On Thursday Vice President Dr Mohammed Gharib Bilal received two new members who were self-employed, one being a fisherman and the other a vendor. Dr Bilal asked the Public Service Pensions Fund (PSPF) and other social security funds to ensure they reached out to all eligible Tanzanians, saying according to the 2012 national census 22 million people were in the labour force. “Make sure that you reach out to as many Tanzanians as possible in formal and informal sectors. Pension is for their life after retiring from work,” Dr Bilal said. But in his remarks, PSPF board of trustees chairman George Yambesi said since the inception of the PSPF in 1999 it had managed to record about 309,767 public service members. He said PSPF had been providing members with attractive benefits. But he stressed that the government had been delaying to honour its promises such as paying for its employees. In a quick rejoinder, the Finance minister, Dr William Mgimwa, said the government was committed to fulfilling its promises over social security arrangements. Speaking at the opening of PSPF annual general meeting, acting director general Adam Mayingu said the fund size had grown to Sh1.09 trillion by June last year. He explained that the growth accounted for a Sh161.78 billion surplus occasioned in the last financial year. “Our surplus came from contributions, investments and other incomes. It reduced expenses and operating expenses,” Mr Mayingu said. He said in the 2011/12 fiscal year, total fund contributions amounted to Sh444.10 billion compared to Sh392.90 billion in 2010/11. He noted that the increase was 13.03 per cent and had been attributed to an increase in members’ salaries by 12 per cent.