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The new system will also see all Government pensioners receiving uniform payouts monthly.
Secretary to the Public Service Commission, Mrs Pretty Sunguro, said under the present system, the money varied depending on which Ministry the pensioners were drawing from.
Under the current system, retired civil servants receive their money from the Ministry of Public Service while widows of national heroes and the disabled get their money from the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare.
This has seen those receiving money from the Ministry of Labour and Social Services getting less than their counterparts from the Ministry of Public Service with the latter getting not less than US$100 per month, depending on their grade.
In an interview, Mrs Sunguro said the issue was now under consideration by relevant Government arms after a request was made by the Ministry of Labour.
“An approach has been made through the PSC to harmonise pensions. We are still considering that together with Treasury, it is Treasury which has the final say, because obviously it will have financial implications,” said Mrs Sunguro.
Pension paymaster in the PSC, Mr Sylvester Mkandla said: “They are part of Government pensioners and they should be treated the same, but at the moment no decision has been made.”
Retired civil servants get an indexed amount depending on one’s grade and duration of service while widows of national heroes and disabled people get a flat figure.
Mr Mkandla said it was Government’s responsibility to pay all its pensioners living earnings which are uniform.
“As Government we should lead by example, our pensions levels are one of the most attractive despite the fact that we don’t have a pension fund and that we are on a cash budget system,” said Mr Mkandla.
Mrs Sunguro said plans were still afoot to have a pension fund for civil servants.
“At the moment we don’t have a pension fund, it’s a pay as you go. Workers’ pension contributions go into the Exchequer account, so it is like serving members are paying pensions for those who have retired,” she said.
“If there was a fund we would invest and that would mean better returns.”
Mrs Sunguro, however, said Treasury was working on modalities to establish the fund.
She said they had managed to capture all pensioners during the switchover to the multi-currency system from the Zimbabwe dollar.
Pensioners were given foreign currency account numbers against the Zimbabwe dollar account, making the switchover hassle free.
“With the current system, a civil servant is notified on his or her pay slip six months in advance that he will be retiring. This will enable him to submit all paper work required so that pension is processed in time,” she said.
“In the past we would process after retirement and if there is something we want corrected on that person’s file, it was difficult to locate him since he would have already left service, hence this would delay commencement of payment of pensions.
Online Reporter