.Msiska

By REBECCA MUSHOTA –

THE Parliamentary committee on Delegated legislation has adjourned hearing of submissions from Secretary to the Cabinet Rowland Msiska on the revised retirement age, to a later date.
This is to enable Dr Msiska consult the Attorney General on whether Cabinet had legal powers to adjust upwards the age of retirement.
Parliamentary committee on Delegated legislation chairperson Lumezi MMD Member of Parliament (MP) Isaac Banda adjourned the hearing to a date that would be communicated.
“Secretary to the Cabinet, we will adjourn this hearing to a later date. You will come back with the information on all the issues you will be consulting on,” Mr Banda said.
Earlier, Choma Central MP Cornelius Mweetwa said it was not appropriate to continue deliberating the subject if Dr Msiska was not clear on the legality of his administration. We are not here to discuss the logic or the rationale but the powers,” Mr Mweetwa said.
During his submission Dr Msiska said the Statutory Instrument (SI) 63 of 2014 adjusted the retirement age from 55 to 65 years-old.
He said the SI could still be amended and that Government was going to hold further discussions with stakeholders considering the concerns that others had raised.
Dr Msiska, however, said it was unfortunate that the issue was being subjected to further discussions when the matter has been tabled since 2011.
“We will be answerable to our children because by taking so much time, we are borrowing from the future,” he said.
Dr Msiska said the retirement age was revised as the first step in addressing the problems plaguing Zambia’s pension system which was in deficit and required redress.
Unless retirement was delayed, the gap between retirement and payment continued to widen putting pressure on the Treasury.
There were other challenges of low pension contributions, declining pension scheme members and limited investments in pension schemes.
Life expectancy post retirement age had also increased as well as Zambia had one of the lowest retirement ages in the SADC region.
The SI 63 provided that the retirement age did not apply to a member of the Defence Force, a police officer below the rank of Chief Inspector and a Prisons Service officer below the chief officer because they worked in hazardous environments.
Meanwhile, the Civil Servants and Allied Workers Union of Zambia (CSAWUZ) submitted before the same committee that the union would seek judicial redress if Government did not repeal the SI 63 and reverse the retirement age to 55.
CSAWUZ president Davy Chiyobe said the union believed that since Government had been urging the trade unions to ignore the revised retirement age, the union would give Government some time.