Africa-Press – Botswana. Government has allocated P5 billion for the next financial year to settle outstanding BDF pension transfer values.
This follows a major decision to adjust the pension denominator for nearly 10,000 personnel. Answering a question in Parliament on Tuesday, Minister for State President, Defence and Security, Mr Moeti Mohwasa revealed that 9,972 military personnel were eligible for such enhancements, comprising 5,560 separated members and 4,412 serving members.
Minister Mohwasa said processing began in July 2024 and as of February this year, 3,599 separated members have been paid and 161 were currently in the process of being paid, leaving 1,800 separated members awaiting their calculated values.
Regarding active-duty personnel, he said all 4,412 serving members were still waiting to have their records credited with the recalculated transfer values.
The minister noted that the primary limiting factor on the rate of disbursement had been a shortage of funds. To date, he said government had disbursed P1.4 billion to the fund administrators (NMG), which will cover 3,760 of the received claims. For the upcoming financial year, he indicated that government had allocated P5 billion for pensions and gratuities.
“This will go towards payment of outstanding claims as well as updating the active and deferred member records with recalculated transfer values,” Mr Mohwasa stated.
He emphasised that government was prioritising payments and continued to disburse funds to NMG as revenue became available. Currently, he said claimants owed less than P300 000 had been settled and those owed between P300,000 and P500,000 were now being processed.
Regarding the structure of the payouts, the minister explained that transfer value enhancements were governed by pension legislation, including the Retirement Funds Act, Income Tax Superannuation rules and BPOPF Fund Rules.
“Under these regulations, a member is only permitted to commute their entire retirement benefit if the remaining 50 per cent, after the initial lump sum, results in an annuity of less than P20,000 per annum,” he said.
Minister Mohwasa explained that such provisions were mandatory, stating that the law did not allow for discretionary waivers regardless of a beneficiary’s age.
He was responding to questions from Member of Parliament for Chobe, Mr Goretetse Kekgonegile, who asked the minister to brief on the progress of outstanding BDF dues.
Mr Kekgonegile requested clarity on the number of personnel paid versus those outstanding, the reasons for delays and the specific timeline for final payments.
He also questioned why members were required to purchase pension schemes with 50 per cent of their dues and whether flexibility could be exercised for older beneficiaries.
