DODOMA: THE National Assembly has urged the government to make amendments to the laws that oversee the social security funds so that they can be legally bound to pay interests when they delay payments to retirees.
The Speaker of the National Assembly, Dr Tulia Ackson, said on Friday that retired workers have been facing difficulties in receiving their benefits after serving the nation for years.
She expressed concerns that despite the fact that the social security funds kept records of their members, they often delayed the retirees’ payments.
“It does not make sense; these people serve the nation for years, and their records are well preserved, but it becomes challenging when it is time to process their payments,” she said.
Dr Ackson advised the government to introduce amendments to the laws so that social security funds could be held accountable when they fail to pay retiree benefits on time.
Speaker Ackson, issued the advice following a question posed by Special Seats MP, Husna Sekiboko (CCM), who wanted to know when retirees whose benefits were transferred from one social security fund to another, will be paid their benefits.
She disclosed that some retirees were facing difficult times after their benefits were transferred due to the merging of security schemes.
The Speaker noted that the law penalises employers who fail to submit employees’ contributions to the security funds but is silent on the security fund that delays the payment of benefits to retirees.
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“I expect the government to bring amendments to the laws that oversee the operations of the security funds; there must be legal powers to charge interests from security funds that fail to pay benefits to retirees within 60 days as required by the law,” she said.
The Speaker added: “It does not make sense when a retiree waits for benefits for three, four, six months, or up to one year; this is very unfair because we have records that clearly show when this person is retiring.” According to Dr Ackson, the benefits are paid to retirees to enable them to live a standard life even after retiring from offices. “When you make these people wait for the money for six months, it is very unfair, and it is really frustrating,” she noted.
She mentioned that MPs have been receiving texts from retirees complaining about not receiving their benefits. She said it is high time the government considers tabling amendment laws that will charge interests from social security funds that delay payments to retirees.
Earlier, in his primary question, Ngara MP, Ndaisaba Ruhoro, wanted to know when the government will pay back the money it owes social security funds so that employees can benefit from their contributions.
Responding to the question, Deputy Minister, Prime Minister’s Office (Labour, Youth, Employment and Persons with Disability) Patrobas Katambi said the government is working hard to improve the situation, including updating records of employees and retirees.
“We are no longer asking for employment letters like before; the retirees’ records are well preserved, and they get paid within 60 days as directed by the law,” he noted.
He asked MPs to provide him with a list of names of retirees who have not received their benefits within 60 days after presenting their retirement documents.
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