According to article 3 of the law no 32/1988 of 12 October 1988 modifying and completing the decree law of 22nd August 1974, if a member contributing in RSSB pension scheme dies, his or her benefits can be accessed by his or her spouse and children.

However, article 3 (c) of the above- mentioned law states that if  the deceased was single and did not have children, the parents can access his or her benefits according to the rates stipulated in the law. This implies that the parents of the deceased can access benefits on condition that their deceased child was single and did not have children.

Based on the above stated legal requirements, the parents claiming survivorship benefits of their deceased children  are required to present the following documents;

* Death Certificate

* Court judgment indicating that the parents are the only ones entitled to the benefits of the deceased child (icyemezo cyo kuzungura)

It should however be noted that there are other benefits offered by RSSB pension branch. These benefits include; old age pension, invalidity pension, survivorship benefits and early retirement benefits (pension anticipe). In order to access these benefits, RSSB requires the claimant to present certain documents.

The details of the documents required to access the different types of benefits can be found on RSSB website (www.rssb.rw).

Dr. Daniel UfitikireziDirector General