BOFEPUSU Reacts To Early Retirement Proposal

FRANCISTOWN: The Botswana Federation of Public, Private & Parastatal Sector Unions (BOFEPUSU) has reacted to a position by the Leader of Opposition (LOO) Dumelang Saleshando that retirement age in the civil service should be reduced from 60 to 50 years.

In recent weeks Saleshando has led a crusade of some legislators particularly those in the opposition who believe that the government should urgently review the retirement age from 60 to 50 years.

In addition, Saleshando and other opposition members have recommended that the government should incentivise those who want to leave at age 50. Saleshando’s position has not been welcome by some members of the public.

This week BOFEPUSU secretarygeneral, Tobokani Rari said the federation appreciates the spirit in which Saleshando’s view was expressed. Rari emphasised that in order for elder people to leave the public service and have young people absorbed, such initiative would have to be done with greater caution and careful consideration.

“Our view is that for such a policy to be adopted, government would need to put in place a deliberate programme targeting the elderly in order to assist them with entrepreneurial initiatives amongst others to prepare them for survival once they have left the civil service.” Rari added there is no doubt that government salaries are very low and it has been depicted clearly by the PEMANDU report.

“So, most of the employees within the government effectively fall within the bracket of the working poor and as such, forcing public servants to retire at 50 years without any strong and well thought cushioning initiatives from government, would be throwing them into abject poverty.” “It should be borne in mind that a retired employee is only able to have a monthly pension drawing only when he or she reaches the age of 65. If there is no planned cushionary measure for such officers, then they will be left in the lurch wallowing in poverty between the ages of 50 and 65. At 50 years, an employee would still be relatively young with a relatively young family to take care of,” he told The Monitor.

There has been a swelling opinion amongst various stakeholders that the government should consider reviewing the retirement age to create jobs for the youth.

Ahead of the General Elections last year the Botswana Federation of Trade Unions (BFTU) recommended that any party that takes power should vigorously pursue the early retirement policy. The recommendations were contained in the federation’s manifesto.

The federation said that the winning party should offer sound incentives so that elderly employees can take early retirement in order to create employment opportunities for the youth.

Unemployment particularly amongst youth has emerged as the country’s biggest challenge in recent years. The government puts the unemployment rate at only 18.9% nationally. However, other stakeholders in particular opposition parties have disputed the government figures and

argue that the rate is around 34%.