ACU urges govt to pay retirees their dues

Ililonga Muyunda

The Africa Consumer Unit (ACU) has called on government to pay attention to the plight of retirees by releasing grants to the Public Sector Pension Fund (PSPF).

ACU First Vice President Muyunda Ililonga says the erratic and inadequate release of funds to PSPF has led to failure by the institution to timely pay retirees and other beneficiaries their lamp sum benefits.

Mr. Ililonga says the unit is horrified by the apparent neglect of senior citizens; men and women who had diligently served the country in various departments of the public sector.

He says it is sad that they now languish in the streets of Lusaka.

He adds that their children and grandchildren have become street kids because the system in which they invested their life-time savings has failed them.

Mr. Ililonga notes that those who invest in social security systems do so to escape poverty but when the social security system fail them in terms of  untimely payments and insufficient benefits, those who depend on it sink deeper in poverty.