Government To Start Paying Retirees From Monday

The government will start paying retirement funds to former government employees from Monday 8th June, Justice Minister Given Lubinda has announced. The Government is estimated to owe approximately K508 million in retirement payments to 12,468 former employees. 

Speaking at a press conference in Lusaka on Thursday, Mr Lubinda said the process for establishing the payment schedule had started as long ago as 2019 but had dragged on due to unsuccessful verifications.

He explained that some of the schedules submitted had contained duplicate names and that the government had to be extra cautious to avoid paying some retirees double their allotted amounts. 

Last year, a group of retirees petitioned the government to look into non-payment errors after it emerged some former government employees had not received their payments for over 20 years.

The retirees camped outside Zambia’s Ministry of Justice in Lusaka for five months demanding to be paid, enduring scorching heat and heavy rains.