MURBS’ Board of Trustees participated in a crucial policy-shaping process as Parliament reviewed the Public Service Pension Bill, 2024. As one of the key Retirement Schemes invited by the Parliamentary Committee on Public Service and Local Government, to present a memorandum on the Pension Bill, the Trustees made observations, discussed proposed amendments, provided valuable insights and recommendations aimed at enhancing the sustainability of the country’s public service pension framework.

The Public Service Pension Bill, 2024, seeks to establish a contributory defined benefits Public Service Pension Fund and Scheme, defining their governance, management, and funding mechanisms to ensure a well-regulated contributory pension system. This framework is designed to enhance efficiency, address the challenges of the current pension system, ultimately addressing the challenge of old-age poverty.

During the engagement, the Trustees presented a detailed memorandum to the Committee, proposing key amendments on membership of ‘other of public employees’, portability of benefits, no attachment of benefits to debt or tax payments, and treatment of unallocated contributions and unclaimed benefits. Additionally, they called for prudent investment strategies that comply with national financial regulations to guarantee the long-term sustainability of pension funds.

“While the Public Service Pension Bill (2024) aims at making the proposed Public Service Pension overarching (including other public servants that do not belong to the mainstream public service, by choice), our opinion was that this was unnecessary at this point since all other public servants are covered by NSSF and unless the pension sector is liberalised, this would not be legally compliant. Additionally, it would make management of this scheme and other mandatory schemes difficult to manage. The Committee agreed to rethink this proposal.” – CPA Edna Rugumayo

“The Committee welcomed the comments positively, and commended the depth of analysis, recognising the intent to improve the Bill and ensuring it effectively achieves its intended purpose of curing old-age poverty,” noted Prof. Godwin Kakuba, Board Secretary of MURBS.

“It was a valuable learning and sharing engagement, and you could see that the Committee aimed at drafting a good law. What stood out to me was the cautious approach to liberalization of the pension sector, the emphasis on strong financial literacy, and the need for strong regulatory frameworks and growing entities to support such major reforms,” added Dr. Deus Kamunyu.

MURBS remains proud to have contributed to this important policy discussion and looks forward to further engagements as Uganda reforms its retirement benefits sector. The Scheme remains dedicated to advocating for fair, transparent, and well-regulated pension reforms that benefit both current and future retirees.

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