Govt welcomes dialogue on new pension formula

Dar es Salaam. The government says it is open to dialogue on the new pension regulations, which recently prompted strong reactions from various groups, including politicians, workers and trade unions. The new regulations for pensioners institute 25 per cent for lumpsum and remaining 75 per cent for monthly packages.

Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office (Policy, Parliamentary Affairs, Labour, Employment, Youth and the Disabled) Ms Jenista Mhagama said her office has received a letter from the Trade Unions Congress of Tanzania (Tucta) asking for a dialogue on the new pension regulations.

“I recently received a letter from Tucta and we have agreed that we will meet and listen to them. As the government we cannot ignore public concerns but at the same time we must consider what the law says and the reality of what most Tanzanians have been advising and discussing.

“We (the government) will arrange a day when we will meet with trade unions but the negotiations will have to consider what the law demands, history of where we have come from, where we are and where we are going as a country and I hope we will be able to resolve the issues together,” Ms Mhagama said during a visit to the Occupational Safety and Health Authority (OSHA) offices in the city yesterday.

A heated debate on the new pensions regulations ensued after position Chadema’s Shadow Minister for Labour, Ms Ester Bulaya raised concern about the bleak future for pensioners citing the new regulations and the government accumulated debt of Sh8 trillion owed to pensions funds.

“We in the opposition Chadema are against this bad practice of weakening pension funds at the expense of workers’ rights. Our policy calls for stabilising pension funds so that the rights of workers, including pensioners are protected,” said Ms Bulaya during a press conference in November 2018.

Adding his voice on the same, Nzega Urban MP Hussein Bashe was quoted saying that the outcry clearly indicated that the government had not implemented the terms of reference set by the House Committee responsible for social services in preparing the new pension regulations.

“I remember we had agreed in one of the parliamentary meetings that the government would formulate the new pension regulations through tripartite arrangements that involve the government, Association of Tanzania Employers and workers through their trade unions,” he said.

Tucta recently in a press conference in Morogoro that it supported the merger of social security funds into two schemes, but criticised the government’s decision to review the relevant regulations.

Tucta president Tumaini Nyamhokya said the new regulations would demoralise workers and adversely affect their performance.

“The new regulations are injurious to workers welfare. We advise the government to revert to the previous arrangement where workers were paid 50 per cent of their benefits,” he said.