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Jan. 6, 2022

NTSAU LEKHETHO

2 min read

Civil servants petition Parliament

Civil servants petition Parliament

Members of the Lesotho Parliament

Story highlights

    Aggrieved members of the fund have also met Senators and other high ranking State officials
    Petitioners also want to be given equal and equitable past service liability based only on their length of service

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MEMBERS of the government’s Lesotho Public Officers’ Pension Fund have this week petitioned Parliament, raising concerns over the way the fund is being administered.

The aggrieved members of the fund have also met Senators and other high ranking State officials.

The petition dated December 12, 2021 said the key areas were a demand for a pension fund pay-out increase from 25 percent to 50 percent or 75 percent; members be given a chance to opt being in or out of the scheme; the calculation on pension be reviewed; that upon death beneficiaries of the deceased be awarded the full amount that would have been entitled to the pensioner; and that all public officers be given entitlements that are given to specified officers’ defined contributors.

The petitioners also wanted to be given equal and equitable past service liability based only on their length of service and positions held prior to the introduction of the current pension fund.

They further want members who were employed before April 2008 to be given at least twice the amount their colleagues are getting under the Pensions Proclamation No.4 of 1964 upon retirement.

They argue that the calculation on pension must be done based on the reviewed formula not the oldest formula that makes public officers worse off.

“All pension fund members should be given equitable and equal entitlements and benefits that are given to other public officers catered for under the Specified Offices Pension Fund,” they contend, adding that the government’s contribution for all public officers must be equal in terms of percentage regardless of the positions that the public officers hold.

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They want the death benefit for pension fund members to be increased from one times the annual salary to four times the annual salary like it is happening with their counterparts in the Specified Offices Pension Fund.

They add: “The pension fund must do an accurate and timely production of members’ benefit statements. We also want the pension fund members to be allowed to use their contributions held in the fund as collateral or security with other financial institutions such as banks. We also want all public servants to be allowed to exercise their freedom of association regardless of their position grades.”   

 

 

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