11,000 retirees receive their pension

Aug 26, 2010

ANOTHER 11,476 pensioners have been paid, the public service ministry said in a statement yesterday. The Government has since 2008 been clearing pension arrears.

By Henry Mukasa

ANOTHER 11,476 pensioners have been paid, the public service ministry said in a statement yesterday.

The ministry asked the pensioners to get the money from their banks across the country. Some of the money is for gratuity while the rest is payments ex-gratia (to the beneficiaries of dead pensioners).

The Government has since 2008 been clearing pension arrears. By July 2008, the arrears stood at sh130b.

Last November, 1,142 pensioners received their cheques. In November 2008, the Government paid out sh50b arrears to 4,735 beneficiaries.

In order to reduce the risk of thefts and ghost pensioners, payments are made by the Bank of Uganda through electronic fund transfer to beneficiaries personal accounts.

Uganda has over 55,000 pensioners, but payments delay.

Recently, the Auditor General said civil servants and teachers take three years to process their pension claims and blamed it on poor communication and records management systems.

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