Dodoma — The Parliament is unhappy with the government’s ‘dilly-dallying’ approach on two key legislative pieces that directly touch on the lives of millions of Tanzanians.
Speaker of Parliament Job Ndugai expressed the House’ dissatisfaction on the way the government was handling the planned bills on the formula for calculating workers’ pension benefits and another one on universal health insurance coverage.
The Speaker yesterday directed the Parliamentary Committee on Social Services and Community Development to summon and query the Health ministry about a bill on health insurance for all on claim that the government had been too much about processing statements.
“The Act that is needed by many is the one that is delayed, what is going on in the government, where processes do not end?,” queried Mr Ndugai.
Special Seats legislator Esther Bulaya came up with that argument when she had asked for the Speaker’s guidance, calling for a clarification as to when the bill on the formula for calculating workers’ pension benefits would be tabled in Parliament.
In the guidance, Ms Bulaya said during the passing of the budget of the Office of the Prime Minister, the government pledged to table the bill in Parliament so that it could be worked upon to avoid complaints from the workers.
“Hon Speaker when we were debating on the budget of the Office of the Prime Minister, the Government told us that the bill on the formula for calculating workers’ pension benefits would be tabled in Parliament so that we could pass it but it is nowhere to date, I need your guidance,” said MsBulaya.
She recalled a statement made by the late John Magufuli (fifth phase president) that the issue should be left because it would not be a remedy, but an Act on it should instead be enacted.
The minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office (Policy, Parliament, Labour, Employment, Youth and the Disabled), Ms Jenista Mhagama, admitted that the pledge was made about tabling the bill on looking at the Act. However, the minister said that there was still a debate on it that would need to involve other people including stakeholders and trade unions.
According to Ms Mhagama, the Speaker has been many a time insisting that the bills to be tabled in Parliament should be satisfactory for many things to avoid inconveniences.
“The government is very serious. First of all, the period of transition, which is 2022/23, has not ended. So, let me allay you worries my fellow Tanzanians that we are still dealing with the issue on a serious note,” said Ms Mhagama.
For his part, the Speaker said if the government felt any difficult to deal with the bill, then it should table that bill in Parliament so that it can be passed quickly and give hope to the workers in the country.
Mr Ndugai said there had been complaints by the workers and others were asking for retirement in this transition period before the Act had been effective.
In 2018, the implementation of the government’s 2014 regulations on pension benefits – which came after all pension funds for public sector employees were merged to form the Public Service Social Security Fund (PSSSF) – sparked a public outcry that saw former President John Magufuli suspending its use [that of the new formula].
The late Magufuli directed that all pension funds, except NSSF revert to the old payment formula, at least for a period of five years so as to pave way for an agreeable payment system to be arrived at between the funds and workers.
The new pension regulations – that started working in 2014 – provides that workers should receive 25 per cent in lump sum payment and the remaining 75 per cent would be paid in a monthly basis spread over 13 years.
The new regulations prompted an outcry, especially from public servants who used to receive 50 per cent in the first lump sum and 50 per cent on a monthly basis spread over 12 years.
And, when Parliamentary sessions started in Dodoma yesterday, the legislators were expecting to debate a bill to amend the formula and a legislative piece on universal health insurance coverage but the government could not present them to the law making body.
Health insurance for all
Speaker Ndugai directed the committee to urge the government about when the bill on health insurance for all would be tabled in Parliament.
He said the government’s dilly-dallying on the issue had made MPs fail to succeed for five years, explaining that nearly 19 or 20 meetings the lawmakers had been reminding of the issue, but to no avail.
“Health minister seems to have dodged cleverly because I can’t see her here, but this issue of health insurance for all in all 19 or 20 meetings we failed to make it, but this is the priority no.1, we encounter many problems and this is the fifth meeting the issue has not been solved,” wondered Mr Ndugai.