Opinion / Columnist
Life of an old, poor government pensioner in Zimbabwe
21 Sep 2016 at 15:54hrs | Views
A pensioner is a person who collects a pension payout, most commonly because of retirement from active workforce.
During the course of active work years, money is deducted from would be pensioner's salary for soft landing when the time for retirement comes which normally happens when one is advanced in age. In most cases, the person would have served all their working life for the organisation or government meaning they are no longer able to take up employment elsewhere because of advanced age. In a way, pension payment is like retirement to the comfort of old people's home.
To come back to my point I am an old, poor Zimbabwean government pensioner. I am still yet to get my august pension from my former employer the government and it's almost some days towards the end of September. When I visited the government pension offices to enquire I realised that I was not the only one but roughly almost all the old, poor government pensioners were there for the same enquiry of non-pension payment. We were told our pensions have been frozen and we were instructed to complete ‘life certificates' so that we can get our pensions once more.
Chinamasa and president Mugabe after all these years of getting my pension without hitches, why life certificates now? Why did I not complete the ‘life certificate' when I retired from the government service years back if that was the procedure and requirement?
Chinamasa and Mugabe's pension is not a privilege but my right; after all, I contributed towards my pension through those monthly pensions deductions whilst I was still devotedly serving in the government. I entrusted those deducted monthly funds to the government for safe keeping and that was an investment for my retirement life.After that investment, I was guaranteed of retirement soft landing.
Please, Chinamasa and Mugabe don't make the pensioner's life miserable and unbearable. Instead of the so-called life certificates which you now want pensioners to complete just come out clean and tell the pensioner, you have no money than those flimsy excuses. At least I now know that the government is taking advantage of and making the old, poor pensioner like me the soft target because I don't have the energy and capacity to be of any threat. It is the old, poor pensioner like me now shouldering the burden of mismanaged economy, corruption and looting of state resources by those in power. I know truth is that there is no money for government pensioner than this flimsy ‘life certificate' excuse. The truth is that Chinamasa you are just buying time until the arrival of bond notes so that you can clear the pension arrears for old and poor government pensioner like me?
Please, I am imploring you Mugabe as the head of government and Chinamasa as the responsible minister to have a human heart towards an old, poor government pensioner like me. I am starving despite being entitled to a pension which has since been frozen by the government.
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Clifford Sibanda <cliffords044@gmail.com>
Source - clifford sibanda
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