The Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has cautioned public entities which do not pay pension contributions for their workers on time, which may compromise on the employees’ social benefits. The lawmakers issued the warning on Thursday, September 15, while officials from Kirehe District were appearing before PAC to respond to cases of public funds mismanagement that were cited in the Auditor General’ report for the financial year 2020-2021. For instance, in Kirehe, it emerged that there is a case of pension contributions that were not paid for some workers for seven years. According to the Auditor General’s report, Groupe Scolaire Nyakiliba in Kirehe District owes the Rwanda Social Security Board (RSSB) over Rwf5.5 million in pension contribution arrears accumulated from 2007 to 2014. This is from over Rwf1.6 million unpaid pension contributions [for this school’s teachers] which increased as result of accrued penalties. Kirehe District Vice Mayor in charge of Social Affairs, Janviere Mukandayisenga acknowledged that the issue occurred, but, that a solution was being considered. “The issue is now being addressed so that the social security contributions for the concerned people be paid, after the approval by the [District] council,” she said. When PAC Chairperson, MP Valens Muhakwa asked whether making due pension contributions for workers requires a decision of the district council, Mukandayisenga replied that this is the case because ‘the contributions were already in arrears category’. “The issue occurred in 2007, so, we have to look for a budget to solve it, and for that to be approved by the District council,” she said. Muhakwa said that the district officials should put in place a flow-up mechanism such that issues like this are tackled. “It is a disadvantageous situation for a teacher or any other employee who served the district, and when they retire, they are told that they were not paid pension contributions,” he observed. The Eastern Province Executive Secretary, Jeanne Nyirahabimana said that the province will work with the district to strengthen inspection and internal auditing and follow-up on solving identified problems. “It is not understandable how people’s pension contributions, as one of their rights, were not paid since 2007, and that issue was observed now in 2022. This is a major issue,” she said, adding that the Province will contribute to addressing it. MP Beline Uwineza, Deputy Chairperson of PAC said that the RSSB always faces issues of employers who do not pay social security contributions for their employees, suggesting that the Kirehe case is one of them. “These cases are not acceptable,” she said, citing the issue of the teachers in Kirehe District whose pension contributions were not paid for seven years. Overall, countrywide, the AG’s report found significant unrecovered contributions from employers, amounting Rwf24.2 billion identified during the RSSB’s audits. The report said “this deprived the pension scheme of necessary funds and adversely affects the long-term financial sustainability of the scheme.”
