06 Dec 2016

Active members of Botswana Public Officers Pension Fund (BPOPF) have been urged to pay tax on time to ensure smooth preparations of their claims when they retire.

The fund administration director, Ms Gaolatlhe Otsetswe said they had been experiencing some delays in preparations of clients’ claims because they owed tax at Botswana Unified Revenue Services.

She made the plea in an interview after a successful road show  that aimed to take services to the people and to share new developments at the organisations.

Ms Otsetswe stated that the objective of the road show was to enhance their visibility, interact with their customers, share experiences and get feedback regarding their services.

She emphasised the need to pay tax on time to speed up processing of claims noting that their intention was to prepare claims and pay pensioners without any delay.

Ms Otsetswe also appealed to customers to submit and update their personal information to ensure all members data is accurate noting that and this would in turn improve service delivery.

She said at times they experience delays because management had to verify and update personal details.

She however urged all pensioners to liaise with regional offices located at strategic centres to update their personal details.

Meanwhile, the director said they continued exploring ways of serving the best interests of their members, adding that the establishment of the offices in Maun would go a long way in helping the fund bring its services closer to the people.

She expressed frustrations that public servants were dragging their feet to fully utilise their services noting that they never turn up for events such as road shows which aimed to provide one stop shop.

“Public servants are not interested in such events and it is disappointing and frustrating our efforts to serve them,” she added.

Ms Otsetswe said the fund administration function which was rendered by Alexander Forbes Financial Services was now being performed internally by BPOPF to improve service delivery in a cost effective manner. ENDS