By Silvia Nyambura
Ugandans need to embrace pension schemes in a bid to avoid poverty in their old age. According to the Uganda Retirements Benefits Regulatory Authority (URBRA), very few workers save for retirement despite the existence of a mandatory pension scheme in the country. In addition, those registered usually work with provident funds meaning they receive their money in a lump sum with little if any annuity options. For this reason, some retirees end up spending all their benefits at once and continue to live in poverty until they die.
Speaking at a press conference held at the Imperial Royale Hotel today, URBRA’s new CEO David Nyakundi said, “Out of a labor force of 15 million people, less than 5% are registered with a pension scheme. In addition, those already registered do not know how to apply consumptive smoothing which allows for slow consumption of benefits. Uganda’s current system has provident funds. These do not take into account that once one leaves employment, they may face the risk of outliving their savings.
