By AARON CHIYANZO
THE unending nightmare of fraud perpetuated on pension accounts by some selfish pension firms should result in more audits and the release of the Saturnia audit report which the nation is eagerly waiting to see, Citizens Democratic Party president Robert Mwanza has said.
Mr Mwanza said fraudulent pension firms were inflicting innumerable hardship and pain on retirees.
“This cannot be allowed to continue,” he said.
Mr Mwanza called on Government to deal sternly with pension firms that mismanage pension funds.
He questioned why the audit report on Saturnia was being kept a secret.
Mr Mwanza said it was sad that pensioners had to watch in shock how their entitlements were embezzled by individuals who were supposed to manage them.
“Pension firms that mismanage funds must be sternly dealt with. There is no need to treat them with kid gloves,” he said.
Mr Mwanza urged Government to intervene in matters relating to unpaid retirees so that they were paid their dues.
He said many retirees have died without collecting their entitlements.
Mr Mwanza said current workers were also not hopeful that they would receive their entitlements after retiring because of the current scenario.
“The lateness in the payment of Accrued Rights to retiring or retired workers is bringing untold hardship to retirees who have to wait for several months before accessing their entitlements,” he said.
Mr Mwanza said some pensioners had endured abuse and unconducive work environment while in service and now have to put up with months of waiting for their paltry gratuity.
“The worst part is that the pension backlog runs into months and years without any sense of urgency by agencies that are supposed to pay them,” he said.
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