The Rwanda Social Security Board (RSSB) is in the process of reviewing pension benefits without affecting scheme sustainability, Jonathan Gatera, the new director general said.

In an exclusive interview with The New Times’ Rodrigue Rwirahira, Gatera also said that RSSB is in a new drive to strengthen Community based Health Insurance (CBHI/Mutuelle) and maternity insurance.

Below are the excerpts:

Barely a month ago, you were appointed the new Director General of RSSB, how prepared are you for the task ahead?

There is no pressure, the institution has been functioning and it has dedicated staff. It also has a Board of Directors and a guiding policy led by the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning. I also know that the success of the institution depends on strong collaboration with its stakeholders. So we are ready and eager to create strong relationships with all stakeholders as we work towards achieving RSSB’s mandate.

You have inherited a public office that runs a number of programmes ranging from social welfare all the way to investments, what are you likely to change in order to deliver to people’s expectations?

My priority right now is to understand what has been in place. Based on what I found in place, I will work towards improving certain areas that need more attention. A few of such areas include; CBHI operations, operationalisation of maternity insurance, continued improvement in service delivery, and viable investment in areas that ensure creation of jobs for Rwandans.

In the wake of the new pension scheme law that has just come into force, what is your take on defaulters, both public and private offices, that fail to remit premiums for intended beneficiaries, and how would you like to address it?

First, we have to keep default to a minimum scale. We will carry out aggressive communication and awareness campaigns. For defaulters, audits and enforcement, including penalties as stipulated in the law, will be done. We have a partnership with Rwanda Revenue Authority (RRA) regarding collection of social security fund contributions and I will continue to strengthen that partnership.

Pensioners have expressed concerns on a number of issues like, medical facilities, notably insurance, and financial support in different projects, does this sound urgent to you, and why? Are beneficiaries normally entitled to check their files before retirement period?

Since September 2011, pensioners have been entitled to medical insurance. It is, however, optional in the sense that pensioners can freely join or leave the insurance. At the moment, there are 2,681 pensioners registered and benefiting. It is important to note that RSSB pays 50 per cent of the medical insurance contribution on behalf of the pensioners.

RSSB members can check their files to know their contribution status while they are still active. RSSB actually encourages members to do so in order to avoid future problems that arise from contribution not made by their employers.

There is criticism that the way RSSB pays its pensioners does not consider inflation and or investment profits made using their own deposits, how do you take it? Can you give them a fair deal?

We admit that some people receive low pensions and efforts have been made to address the issue. Pension being a long term insurance, however, a study had to be done to gauge the impact of any pension increases.

Certain recommendations were given and we are engaging the Ministry of Finance on how to review pension without affecting the scheme sustainability.

It’s important to note, however, that pension is calculated based on salaries of the final years of employment to take care of inflation. Also, in calculating pension, every year of contribution leads to a 2 per cent of gross salary addition to one’s pension, eg. if one works for 20 years, he received a pension of 40 per cent gross salary monthly yet his contribution was 6 per cent. Investment returns are partly used to cover that gap.

What are the strategies for addressing the housing industry problems for low cost earners, have you decided on new measures?

RSSB invests in high, medium and low cost housing projects. As of today, there is an ongoing low cost construction project at Batsinda, Gasabo District. The project was officially launched in February 2015. We have a partnership with MININFRA and City of Kigali in line with provision of infrastructure to ensure that the project remains low cost. Other plots have been secured in Gahanga Sector of Kicukiro District and in Nyarugenge District that are also meant for low cost housing.

Recently the board saw CBHI transferred to its docket, human resources reforms were expected to know how many are coming to RSSB, what are the latest developments on this?

Reforms were made as a result of inheriting Mutuelle de Sante. A new structure was developed, approved and gazetted. The recruitment process is ongoing and the majority of former CBHI staff will be retained.

In the recent Auditor General’s report, reckless investments and lack of corporate governance were pointed as worrying issues that have seen the Board engage in wasteful expenditures, how best is this going to be addressed?

There were some governance issues raised but these are being addressed such as involving the Board of Directors in all investment decisions. However, the investments made did not make any losses as reported; the issue was that the investments made took longer to provide returns as did payment from certain sales that had not yet been received at the time of the audit.

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