Staff Reporter
THE Minister of Gender Equality and Child Welfare, Dr Emma Kantema-Gaomas, has announced that a total of 10 066 pensioners have been put back on the government’s list of pension grant recipients following a national audit.
This comes after the welfare ministry announced that a total of 15,785 of the country’s 209,226 old-age grant recipients had their payments suspended after their names could not be found in the National Population Registry System.
The ministry explained that beneficiaries will need to provide the necessary documentation at the ministry, including a national identity card or birth certificate, to complete the verification process. Once verified, their grants will be reinstated. The ministry confirmed that reinstated beneficiaries will be entitled to back payments covering the period of suspension.
“From the over 15 000, we have managed to reinstate 10 066 beneficiaries onto the system, and the payments are being processed. The process has been a bit slow in terms of the elderly coming into our offices to verify their details. It is indicated that 10 066 have been verified and put back on the system. We have recruited temporary employees to capture the required details, and set up a steering committee which will work with the welfare ministry as well as the Ministry of Finance to expedite the process,” Dr Emma Kantema-Gaomas said.
She added that the remaining ones are being captured as the ministry receives updates. However, the process remains slow due to the large number of people.
