Bureaucracy in accessing pension funds irks union

WORKERS have been reluctant, while others have lost confidence in saving with some pension schemes because of the bureaucracy involved when it comes to accessing their funds which reduces them to mere beggars,’ the National Union of Miners and Allied Workers (NUMAW) has said.

NUMAW national treasurer Saul Simujika said, apart from the bureaucracy involved when accessing their funds, some pension schemes were offering low interest rates which were not directly proportional to the contribution of the workers

Mr Simujika was reacting to President Hakainde Hichilema’s speech during the Labour Day celebrations in Lusaka that Government wanted pension funds to be put to good use as well as help the workers access part of their money to invest in business and build houses for themselves

“We agree with the President that these pension reforms should take place to help workers access funds of their savings while they are still working to help them to plan for themselves and their children

“Our observation has been that the workers are not benefitting from their investment in these pensions schemes or funds. They are not benefitting because the growth of their investment is not as expected because some of the funds or schemes have not been investing in viable projects,’’ Mr Simujika said

He said some pension schemes or funds were not investing in viable projects, resulting into paying lower interests and struggling to pay the workers who contributed

“Pensions houses must look for projects which will grow the pensions and pay the workers contributions handsomely on time instead of struggling to pay peanuts to the workers who contributed,’’ he said

He said, to make matters, some pension schemes have very irritating bureaucracy which takes long for the workers to access their money to the extent where they start looking as if they were begging from the institution

“Workers who genuinely contributed money to the pension scheme or fund are made to wait for a long time because of bureaucracy. This bureaucracy makes the workers look like beggars to the company.

“It is this kind of thing which makes workers to get reluctant, while others have lost confidence in saving with some pension schemes. I agree with them because that is their money and should not be subjected to wait unnecessarily as if they are just begging,’’ Mr Simujika said.