Why your pension may delay to come

By Flavia Lanyero

Kampala

When civil servants retire, they expect to start earning money accrued from their years of service. This, however, is not often the case as many end up making endless trips to the pensions office in Kampala to find out why their accounts are empty.

The actual duration a file takes from the time it is brought to the Ministry of Public Service to when a person finally gets their pension is unknown.

However, according to the institution’s Principal Communications Officer Jonas Tumwine, the period depends on availability of required information and documents and correctness of the information. He said sending files to the wrong office, which may take long to be found, can also delay the process.

Mr Tumwine added that sometimes retirees keep their bank accounts dormant so when money is sent, it bounces back. Additionally, availability of money from the Ministry of Finance also determines how fast someone accesses their pension.

Assuming one has every document and information needed, including an appointment letter, posting letter, confirmation letter, most current pay slip and bank details, the file is then taken to the Ministry of Public Service. According to Mr Tumwine, it could take a few days before a person starts getting their pension.

“It doesn’t mean that as soon as all this is done then you will start getting money because the money sometimes is not there. The requirement of pension per month if everyone was to be paid reaches Shs1 trillion and the money we get is limited,” Mr Tumwine said in an interview.

He said for some ministries such as Defence, their files do not go through processes others do. Mr Tumwine said for retired soldiers, their documents are cleared by their ministry and the files submitted when “they are audited and ready to pay and are automatically paid”. He said people who retired from July last year have, for instance, not received their gratuity because there is no money from government.

Mr Tumwine said the verification is to “ensure that a person is paid the right amount and to see that money is not paid to the wrong person”. Every month, the Permanent Secretary validates the payroll manually and electronically to ensure the right person is paid their pension. Despite these rather lengthy checks and balances, billions of shillings have been paid to ghost pensioners while rightful ones are still waiting.

Billions more were swindled by the very officials in charge of compensation at the ministry. There are 53,000 people on the pension payroll, half of whom are teachers. Government spends Shs13 billion every month on pension.

Mr Tumwine said majority pensioners are peaceful and happily receiving their money. “There are only a few hundred pensioners who are grumbling and because they do it through the media, it is seen as a big issue. We are doing everything possible to see that every pensioner gets their money and in time.”

The procedure
1. When the file arrives at Public Service, it is taken to room 92 for verification and crosschecking submitted information. It is then taken to room 65 where a registrar opens a file on behalf of the Permanent Secretary.

2.The file is then transferred to room 94 for verification of its authenticity then sent to the Commissioner Human Resource who, after another verification, sends the file to the commissioner pension.

3.The commissioner then instructs assessment officers to calculate the amount of money for gratuity and pension.

4.The files are then sent to the Ministry of Finance for auditing then returned to the Public Service whereupon the permanent secretary authorises one to be paid.