adminDarlington Musarurwa Deputy News Editor
The eagerly-anticipated report on pensions and insurance, which was compiled by a commission of enquiry appointed by former President Robert Mugabe in August 2015 to investigate the sector and quantify possible prejudice to policyholders, is now before Cabinet.
This has raised expectations that a definitive position on how to proceed would be made soon. Most pensioners and policyholders, who have endured a 32-month wait, expect to be compensated for the insignificant payouts they got from their respective service providers on the pretext that their contributions had been eroded by hyperinflation.
Secretary for Finance and Economic Development Mr Willard Manungo, who in October last year told The Herald that the report was ready to be presented to the Office of the President, said last week it had since been forwarded to Cabinet.
“It’s before Cabinet,” he said.
“It has gone.”
The compilation of the report hasn’t been without incident, as some commissioners reportedly disagreed on the methods used to calculate the conversion of pension and insurance policies from the Zimbabwe-dollar era to the multi-currency system, including the quantification of the compensation that has to be paid to those who might have been prejudiced.
One of the commissioners, Mr Martin Tarusenga, who is also the managing director of the Zimbabwe Pension and Insurance Rights Trust (ZIMPIRT), has since resigned.
“The inquiry was subjective, relying mainly on sentimental views of commissioners and dispensing with literature review on many important matters of pensions and insurance provision in the terms of reference,” he said.
“It is my desire that the minister be appraised of this my decision to recuse myself from the commission and to dissociate myself with the commission final report, in keeping with due process.”
He raised these concerns in a letter dated October 13, 2017 addressed Justice George Smith, who chaired the commission.
As some of the commissioners traded accusations and counter-accusations, the Finance Ministry, through Mr Cuthbert Munjoma, who was the commission’s secretary, was also criticised for reportedly hurrying the commissioners through the report and, in the process, setting impractical deadlines. This, they said, resulted in gaps, which could be conveniently manipulated to massage the report.
It is believed that Justice George Smith has since rejected the purported resignation and reminded Mr Tarusenga of the need to observe the Official Secrets Act.
Online Reporter