Africa-Press – Zambia. Konkola Copper Mines Plc (KCM) has said that the Company does not owe any ex-miners pension benefits and hence distances itself from insinuations by some ex-miners that the Company is holding on to their pension benefits.
In a statement released to the media, the company said that claims by some ex-miners who protested in Chingola on Friday that they are owed pension benefits by KCM are incorrect and grossly misleading.
According to the statement, KCM operates an in-house Pension Scheme in addition to the mandatory National Pension Scheme Authority (NAPSA). The KCM Pension Scheme is the second largest Scheme in the country. The Pension Industry is regulated by the Pensions and Insurance Authority and is governed by different applicable laws and regulations. The Income Tax Act, Chapter 323 of the Laws of Zambia, in relation to pension payments, provides for up to a fifty percent (50%) upfront, lump sum pension benefits payments upon Retirement, while the balance of 50% is to be paid out as Pension or Life Annuity.
This provision of the law entails that pensioners who are members of a pension scheme become the subject of monthly payments once they Claim their Pension or have signed up to a life annuity system.
There are one hundred and thirteen (113) individuals who have attained retirement age in KCM, but have declined to sign up to the life annuity system in order to be put on monthly Pensions over a lifetime in line with the provisions of the law. KCM is aware that some of the involved ex-miners have been agitating for full payment of their balance 50% pension benefits. However, there is nothing that KCM or the Pension Fund can do on a matter of law to fulfill the demands of the ex-miners.
It is also noteworthy that there are a number of retired KCM Pension Scheme members who have exercised their rights and have fully made use of the provisions of the law.
The representatives of the ex-miners have in the past held meetings with KCM Management officials, Government officials and senior officials from the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Labour, Ministry of Mines, the Regulator and Supervisory body of Pension in Zambia, the Pension and Insurance Authority in the previous Administration, to air their concerns. The Government has offered written explanations and its position on the provisions of the Law in relation to pension payouts and that the Income Tax Act’s provisions must be respected.
KCM is also aware that the ex-miners have negatively targeted some senior members of the KCM Executive Committee (ExCO) and the Board of Trustees, which runs the KCM Pension Scheme, in championing their demonstrations. The Company seeks to clarify that there is not a single KCM official who should be seen as an encumbrance of what the ex-miners are asking for as their pension payment system is tied to Legal Provisions and regulations. KCM cannot change the current payment system because doing so will be going against the law as is established.
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