20 Sep 2023

Matters of policy with regard to the Pension fund is beyond the power of the Botswana Public Officers Pension Fund management.

The Fund Chief Executive Officer, Mr Moemedi Malindah said this in his address to members of the Fund who jammed the Adansonia hotel conference facility in Francistown on Tuesday.

He was responding to views by members from the floor who suggested that the Fund should find a way to cushion members’ financial mire with a once-off encashment from their savings.

Mr Malindah reminded members that the Fund management worked within the strict ambits of the Botswana Public Officers Pension Fund and that any amendment was a decision that could only be taken by policy-makers.

He therefore advised members to lobby their position through workers’ unions and lawmakers if they wanted any change to effect.

“Pension is primarily a means by which members can use to buy an annuity after retirement,” he reminded them.

He also advised members to consider engaging in ways to augment their pension to attain financial freedom upon retirement.

The Tuesday meeting he relayed was meant to update members about the current status of the Fund and interface with members with a view to hear their observations on the same.

Chief Investment Officer, Mr Tshephang Loeto, said the Fund had now taken a decision to invest more in infrastructure development; a thing he said made perfect sense taking into cognisance the industrialisation trajectory that Botswana wanted to take.

“Large-scale infrastructure route is the tried and tested way to bolster the economy and create employment,” he said.

Members were also asked to take the notion of Know Your Customer (KYCs) seriously to avoid a breach of the law.

They were told that non-compliance attracted penalties that ate on the coffers of the fund.

The executive team also took members through recent audited financials, legislative reforms, investment products and members’ benefits.

One such reform is the one that allows the Fund to help issue out payment on any default on any loan, or mortgage by deferred members.

Such members can also be assisted with medical expenses if they have protracted ailments on conditions that there was proof that they have been out of employment for a period of up to six months, Chief Legal Officer for the Fund, Ms Kwenantle Otukile had stated in her presentation to members. ENDs