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{
    "id": 19497,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/19497/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 193,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mr. Kimunya",
    "speaker_title": "The Minister for Transport",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 174,
        "legal_name": "Amos Muhinga Kimunya",
        "slug": "amos-kimunya"
    },
    "content": " Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I rise to second this very important Bill, which aims at catering for our public servants in terms of their pensions and more importantly, to put within a legal framework what has been agreed upon administratively and what has been tried elsewhere, and which has been seen to work; and to bring our pension schemes in line with modern times. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the Bill is straightforward. One of its highlights as the Mover did mention, is to move our pension scheme from defined benefits scheme to a defined contribution scheme. Workers will not be waiting for a pension officer to calculate for them what is due to them at the end of service. It is very clearly stated at the point of joining service how much a pensioner will earn at any particular time. This is exactly the situation we are in with our defined contribution scheme here in Parliament. We know that after serving one term in Parliament, this is the amount that will be payable to us as pension after two terms or three terms. You make your own contribution and the Government tops up. For example, it is very clear in terms of what an hon. Member will get and what the public liability will be. That can be worked out at any one time. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, right now, the situation we are in is obviously one where we are relying on computation, to be told the Government needs to provide so much for pension this year. When you look at the total liability it is quite amorphous. You are not quite sure of what you are liable for in the long term. Actuarial studies have been done basically defining some of those things. Once we pass this law, we will not only have solved the problem of uncertainty and unpredictability by the pensioners themselves, but also by the planners in terms of the Government expenditure in future. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the other advantage of this is obviously that we are now tying the pension payments to the contribution by the hon. Member which is also tightly, earnings. There is rather that added advantage that any hon. Member who wants to earn more in future can sacrifice part of their earnings today by contributing it into the scheme which will then enhance their lifestyles in future. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the other advantage that we see coming from this is obviously the fact that the whole world has moved. All the other schemes have moved, but the public service has been left behind. By passing this Bill we will actually be harmonizing the pension scheme with other schemes, including the Parliamentary Pension Scheme which is worked on this basis of a defined contribution rather than the defined benefit. The other obvious advantage is that apart from just relying on the administrative mechanisms of managing our pension, we will now have a legal framework in accordance with the Retirement Benefits Authority. I know there are several questions that have been asked on the Floor of this House with regard to pension payment. However, when you have this kind of scheme it will now be the scheme manager who will sort out the pension of the person as and when they retire rather than waiting for a Pensions Department to calculate. The scheme manager will determine whether this is payable or not and also determine the point at which the person left office. This is now very clearly defined. If this is your contribution and you retire on this day, it is clear how much you take away. When you tie this to the other provisions that are already within the other laws that allow that people could even access mortgages based on their pension contribution as security, it will now be more clearer to our civil servants knowing that this is the amount of money they have contributed. This is what I expect in terms of my future cash flow coming from my pension in future. I can take part of that and use it as security to secure a mortgage which is available and allowed within the law. As I said, this is a very straightforward matter. It is something that should have been done a long time ago. We are very happy that now the consultative processes have been completed and we are able to bring it to Parliament. We do hope that after Parliament passes it we should be able to get the implementation of it, so that our civil servants can now be brought in tandem with the rest of the world in terms of the management of their pension. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I do not have enough time to go through all this. However, this is a very straightforward matter. I would want to end there and give as much time to the Members of Parliament to contribute to this so that we can fast track the process of giving civil servants their modern pension scheme that they deserve through the passage of this Public Service Superannuation Bill that is before this House. With those remarks, I beg to second."
}