NBM Pension Fund emphasizes need for employers to remit pension deductions
NBM Pension Fund, a subsidiary of the National Bank of Malawi, has emphasized the need for employers to remit pension deductions for its workers, saying failure to do so infringes on the economic rights off the employees.
Speaking at the recent client sensitisation seminar the Fund organised in Lilongwe recently, the Fund’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO), William Mabulekesi, revealed that there is a tendency among employers to remit deducted pension funds.
Mabulekesi said this negatively affects the workers when time comes for them to withdraw their funds.
Recently, the Reserve Bank of Malawi said over 800 companies owe administrators billions of Kwacha in unremitted arrears.
The central bank earlier this month condemned the employers conduct while disclosing that it has launched legal action against some institutions over the same.
Mabulekesi stated that if the latest report by RBM is anything to go by, there are K30 billion in arrears different employers haven’t remitted.
“An employee is a very important asset in any company or any employment setup. You can have infrastructure but you need to have a human being in order to be productive. So, such type of employers do not have the welfare of workers at heart,” he said.
The CEO said the defaulters’ conduct has the potential to impact negatively on their workers once they retire.
“You start as young and you grow old and you cannot work for the rest of your life. The ultimate objective of pension is keeping money for the day you are out of employment which you can use for your health, food and clothes,” he said.
Mabulekesi further said that the pension funds are invested in the country’s development initiatives, therefore failure to remit impacts the nation.
One of the seminar’s participants, Evelyn Mkundika, AHL Group Pension Fund trustee, said there was need to sensitise the employees regarding how pension is administered.
“We receive a lot of questions from employees which we are unable to respond sometimes. So, if (pension administrators) can arrange meetings with our employees in our offices it would help them to clarify some issues, especially the regulations,” she said.
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