BUJUMBURA August 9th (ABP) – The Cabinet met in Gitega on Wednesday August 3, 2022, under the chairmanship of the President of the Republic Evariste Ndayishimiye. After presentation of the agenda, the Prime Minister, Alain Guillaume Bunyoni, was invited by the President of the Republic to present a summary of the observations resulting from the preparatory meeting of the Cabinet, which he himself had chaired on July 27, 2022 and which was devoted to the analysis of the same files on the agenda
After the return by the Prime Minister to the President of the Republic, the files which have been analyzed are in particular the summary of the projections of the number of retirees, the share of financing from the INSS, the ONPR and the share of the State in respecting the scenario of increasing the pension to 30% for retirees before 2020.
After analyzing the responses to these concerns, the Council of Ministers reached the following conclusions. Beneficiaries will begin to receive the revalued pension as soon as that summary note is adopted. The INSS and the ONPR will release at least 30% of their investments to finance the reform and the State will support it by setting up a fund for its sustainability.
In collaboration with ISTEEBU, the ministries concerned will redo projections so that each year we know exactly who is going to retire and who is no longer on the list of beneficiaries. The ministries concerned will redo the statistics to see each month the contributions collected and the amounts of pensions disbursed. Political and public officials are not affected by this reform because there are texts governing the institutions in which they are or their institutions of origin. The General Inspectorate of the State has been called upon to verify whether all the assets of the INSS which generate assets are well managed and whether all the funds are paid into the account of the INSS.
With regard to the draft law amending the law of 27 January 2010, reorganizing pension schemes and professional risks for civil servants, magistrates and agents of the judicial order, the government of the Republic of Burundi has launched a vast project of social reforms with the aim of improving the well-being of the people.
Those reforms are observed, on the legal level, in the promulgation of laws such as the code of social protection in Burundi as well as the labor code. The reform that will have the greatest impact on the future of public sector employees and their families is Law No. 1/09 of March 14, 2022 amending certain provisions of Law No. 1/12 of May 12, 2020 on the Code of social protection.
Indeed, that law has come to put an end to the anxiety of that category of people approaching or entering retirement by guaranteeing them all of their last net salary. After the promulgation of this law, law n°1/04 of January 27, 2020 on the reorganization of the pension and professional risk schemes of civil servants, magistrates and agents of the judicial order is no longer in line with it. It is therefore necessary to review the law on pension and occupational risk schemes, magistrates and agents of the judiciary to adapt it to the current legislative dynamics. innovations compared to the law of 2010 were thus introduced by the council of ministers. Compared to the 2010 law under amendment, the following innovations are made by the bill.
The share of the insured and that of the State-employer which were expressed as a percentage; the project provides for an early retirement at 10 years before the legal retirement age if the insured person in activity suffers from premature wear and tear of his physical or mental faculties, contrary to the current law which provides for such an early retirement at 5 years before retirement age will now be calculated as a percentage instead of points. An early pension of 10 years is provided before retirement age if the insured suffers from premature wear and tear of his physical and mental faculties.
That is when the current law of January 27, 2010 provided for such early retirement at 5 years before the retirement age. Early retirement for personal reasons 5 years before retirement age is not granted automatically. It is now subject to the assessment of the employer who can accept or refuse it in the interest of the service.
The monthly amount of the pension is calculated in such a way that it is equal to the last net salary of the month preceding that of retirement. In relation to the medical care provided abroad to an insured person, including the repatriation of the remains in the event of their death; the new provisions specify that they will be insured by the social security body.
That bill provides, among other things, sanctions against the employer whose declaration is rejected by the organization on grounds of late fault or negligence. After discussions and debates, the bill is adopted.