Retirees need proper care

THE plight of retirees has continued to haunt former workers for a very long time and many have continued living in poverty despite having worked for many years.
In some cases, some retirees have died without getting their benefits and their children face various challenges as families of retirees continue living in poverty in some instances.
There are hundreds of former workers that are still struggling to get their benefits either from the civil service or former parastatals that have been liquidated but few have been paid.
We, therefore, welcome the announcement from Secretary to the Cabinet Dr Roland Msiska that Government wants to ensure that retirees are taken care of because many are suffering due to a poor pension scheme.
This will be a good development because retirees have helped to develop the country and it is only fair that the country pays attention to them so that they do not suffer.
The idea of retirees suffering without benefits is dehumanising and it is therefore welcome that Dr Msiska has recognised the challenge facing retirees.
We hope that by the time Government reviews the pension scheme, retirees will no longer face the agony they have been subjected to in the recent past.
Ensuring that retirees get their benefits in good time will be one way of helping to eradicate poverty which has afflicted many formers workers.
The PF government promised more money in people’s pockets and addressing the challenges that retirees have been facing in a long time will be one way of attaining this.
It is common knowledge that there are many firms that were liquidated during the peak of the privatisation period.
Most of the former workers from the privatised parastatals and those that were liquidated have struggled to get their benefits and up to now some have not been paid.
It is not just former workers in parastals and the civil service who are struggling to get their benefits but even in the private sector.
We therefore welcome the announcement by Dr Msiska that the Government will improve the care for retirees because this is long overdue.
There is need to have a robust pension scheme so that people who have retired enjoy their lives in retirement rather than living in poverty and squalor.
It does not make economic sense for some retirees to be getting as little as K100, hence the need to ensure that the status quo is changed as soon as possible.
We hope that Cabinet Office will ensure that the care for retirees is improved so that they begin living a dignified life.
The current pension scheme also needs to be overhauled so that it is recapitalised to ensure that retirees are properly taken care of.
We are looking forward towards these reforms because they will ensure that retirees live a dignified life and enjoy the fruits of their labour after long years of service and sacrifice.