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Some of the pensioners that turned up yesterday at KCCA Offices, City Hall
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The nationwide physical headcount of pensioners and estate administrators of deceased pensioners commenced today. This exercise, organized by the Office of the Auditor General (OAG), will continue until July 20, 2024. According to a public notice, the OAG will conduct a thorough physical verification as part of a special pension audit running from Monday, July 8, to Friday, July 20, 2024.
The Uganda Retirement Benefits Authority (URBRA) annual sector performance report 2022/23 states that the public service pension scheme covers 407,515 members.
The headcount follows the physical verification the OAG conducted early last year for all public servants on the salary payroll at ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs) as well as local governments nationwide.
The OAG stated that the pensioners’ headcount will cover all public officers who served the Government of Uganda and retired under the Pension Act. These public officers include teachers, health workers, police and prisons staff, traditional public officers, judicial officers, local government employees, and former employees of the East African Community (EAC) who receive a monthly pension.
However, the OAG asked Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) veterans and beneficiaries to ignore this phase as they will be covered in a separate exercise on a date to be communicated later.
“The pensioners and beneficiaries/administrators of the estate of deceased pensioners will be required to appear at the nearest validation centers irrespective of where they retired from or stay,” the notice read in part.
The headcount exercise will be conducted at district headquarters across the country. In Kampala, the exercise will be conducted at Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) at City Hall. In Wakiso district, the headcount exercise will be conducted at the district headquarters, Nansana, Makindye-Ssabagabo, Kira, and Entebbe municipal council headquarters.
Pensioners and beneficiaries/administrators of the estates of deceased pensioners shall be validated under different categories, including those who are on the pension payroll, those who are not on the pension payroll but have been verified as legitimate by their entity of retirement, former employees of EAC who are receiving a monthly pension, and estate administrators/beneficiaries of deceased pensioners who are earning or entitled to a monthly pension but are not yet on the payroll.
Some of the pensioners that turned up
By 6 pm, long queues had formed at the KCCA offices as pensioners responded to the call. The exercise aims to weed out ghost pensioners and fight corruption. The current pension scheme, dubbed the “pay-go scheme,” is 100% funded by the government, with a budgetary allocation every financial year. Under the current system, the pension for each retired public servant is computed based on the length of time on the active payroll and the salary at the time of retirement.
Responding to issues raised by former KCC workers, Daniel Nuwabine, the KCCA Head of Public and Corporate Affairs, explained that the new KCCA Act 2020 established new structures stipulating that pensioners be paid according to their former salaries. “KCCA is just housing this exercise conducted by the Office of the Auditor General; other queries can be answered by the AG officers,” Nuwabine said.
Required Documents
The Auditor General stated that they will require the pensioner’s first appointment letter, confirmation letter, last promotion letter, retirement letter/certificate (if any), national identity card, letters of administration/letter of probate (for estate administrators), and any other documentation relevant to confirm one’s retirement status.
